Premature babies need check-up before air travel

[cezene]

Premature babies do not have well developed lungs and as a result should have their respiratory function checked before being taken on a flight.

Air travel involves a low-oxygen environment, which is known to increase the risk of low blood levels of oxygen in adults with respiratory disease. However, relatively little is known about the oxygen requirements of infants with neonatal lung disease who are scheduled to fly.

The researchers from the Princess Margaret Hospital in Perth, Australia, analysed the data from 47 infants who had undergone low-oxygen challenge tests as part of a fitness-to-fly assessment. All the children had a history of neonatal lung disease and were given a nitrogen-oxygen mixture to breathe via a facemask, with the oxygen concentration set at 14 to 15 percent, for 20 minutes.

Initially, blood oxygen levels in all the infants were more than 95 percent of the saturation point. However, during the challenge testing levels fell below 85 percent of saturation (a point at which supplementary oxygen would be indicated) in 38 infants. Younger children were more likely to fail the low-oxygen test and require supplemental oxygen.

Further information is needed to determine the clinical significance of failing current guidelines for safety during flight for infants with a history of neonatal lung disease. However, since more than 80 percent of pre-term infants with a history of so-called neonatal lung disease do require supplementary oxygen during air travel, they should undergo a checkup before air travel.