A lightweight mainstream capnometer with very low dead space volume is useful monitor for neonates with spontanous and mechanical ventilation: Pilot study

Objects: The purpose of this study was to observe a correlation between PETCO2 and PaCO2 in intubated neonates under intermittent mandatory ventilation with spontaneous breathing. Material and methods: A total of 55 paired PETCO2 measured by mainstream capnometry and PaCO2 values were obtained from 4 intubated neonates in our neonatal intensive care units at Nagano Children’s Hospital, Nagano, Japan. Results: PETCO2 and PaCO2 were significantly correlated (r = 0.928, p < 0.0001). For samples in ventilated neonates with spontaneous breathing, maximum PETCO2 and mean PETCO2 correlated strongly with PaCO2 (maximum PETCO2: r = 0.9401, p < 0.0001; mean PETCO2: r = 0.8587, p < 0.0001). Although PaCO2 also correlated with minimum PETCO2 (r = 0.2884, p < 0.01) in ventilated infants with spontaneous breathing, a significant difference was seen with maximum PETCO2 (p < 0.05) and mean PETCO2 (p < 0.05) in the correlation coefficient r between PaCO2 and PETCO2. Conclusion: Present study showed that a good correlation exists between PETCO2 and PaCO2 in intubated neonates under intermittent mandatory ventilation with spontaneous breathing. Lightweight with low amounts of dead space mainstream capnometry can be used as noninvasive monitor in incubated neonates with spontaneous breathing.