Oxygen therapy for infants with chronic lung disease

Kotecha, S
Allen, J

¹Department of Child Health, University of Leicester, Leicester LE2 7LX, UK
²Division of Pulmonary Medicine and Cystic Fibrosis Center, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Correspondence to:Dr Kotecha, Department of Child Health, University of Leicester, Leicester LE2 7LX, UK;[email protected]

Archives of Disease in Childhood, Fetal & Neonatal Edition 87(1):p F11-F14, July 2002.

Supplemental oxygen is a safe and effective treatment for infants with established chronic lung disease who are not at risk of further progression of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Oxygen saturations of < 92% should be avoided and a target range of at least 94–96% aimed for. The saturation target range for very preterm infants at risk of developing ROP is more controversial, but the therapeutic index is probably considerably narrower.