Managing Established Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia Without Using Routine Blood Gas Measurements

OBJECTIVE:Routine blood gas measurements are common in infants with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (sBPD) and are a noxious stimulus. We developed a guideline-driven approach to evaluate the care of infants with sBPD without routine blood gas sampling in the chronic phase of NICU care (after diagnosis at 36 weeks PMA). STUDY DESIGN:We examined blood gas utilization and outcomes in our sBPD inpatient care unit using data collected between 2014 and 2020. RESULTS:485 sBPD infants met inclusion criteria, and 303 (62%) never had a blood gas obtained after 36 weeks PMA. In infants who had blood gas measurements, the median number of total blood gases per patient was only 4 (IQR 1-10). We did not identify adverse effects on hospital outcomes in patients without routine blood gas measurements. CONCLUSIONS:We found that patients with established BPD could be managed without routine blood gas analyses after 36 weeks PMA.