Correlation of retinopathy of prematurity with oxygen saturation in preterm babies in a tertiary care center: A noble guide

Abstract

To find the correlation of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) with oxygen saturation among preterm babies in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of a tertiary care centre. This Prospective cross-sectional study was conducted on 64 premature neonates of gestational age < 36 weeks who were on oxygen and were admitted in NICU after obtaining ethical clearance. We compare the effect of two oxygenation strategies on development of ROP in two groups. Oxygen ranged from 86-90% in one group (32 neonates) and 91-94% in another group (32 neonates). Screening of all neonates were done by one examiner. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26. For categorical data, Chi-square test was used. For continuous data, Mann Witney U test were used and p- value-<0.05 was taken as significant. Among 64 babies, 32 babies were on 86-90% of oxygen, 5 babies had disease and the remaining 32 babies who were on 91-94% of oxygen, 14 babies had developed disease showed a statistically significant relationship between ROP and oxygen saturation (p=0.014). High oxygen saturation target is one of the important risk factors leading to the development of ROP. Lower oxygen saturation reduced the prevalence as well as had no deleterious effect on general health of baby. Therefore, accurate measurement of oxygen concentration by probe and proper monitoring of SpO2 levels must be done in every NICU.