Continuous oxygen monitoring of the conjunctiva in neonates.

Objective: To report the first use of a noninvasive conjunctival oxygen monitor in neonates. We wished to investigate if measuring the partial pressure of oxygen directly from the conjunctiva could track hyperoxia and hypoxia as well as, or better than, pulse oximetry. This has the potential to reflect brain oxygenation while yielding important systemic information.

Study Design: Criteria standard.

Setting: Tertiary care hospital neonatal intensive care unit.

Patients: Ten newborns monitored with pulse oximetry.

Intervention: The conjunctival oxygen monitor was studied for effectiveness and safety and compared to pulse oximetry.

Results: The device remained on the eyes up to 120 minutes. The correlation coefficient between conjunctival oxygen tension and pulse oximetry was significant for all readings (p<0.001) and for pulse oximetry measurements below 100% (p=0.024). One infant developed eyelid edema, which subsided when the device was removed and one sustained a small corneal abrasion that healed overnight.

Conclusion: This initial pilot report suggests that the conjunctival oxygen monitor is effective and relatively safe in neonates. The device holds promise to indicate a tissue oxygen reading, which may provide neonatologists with more information about systemic oxygenation.