Abstract
Respiratory rate (RR) is a key clinical indicator but monitoring respiration can be difficult in young children. RR can be derived by low pass filtering (LPF) of pulse oximetry plethysmogram (pleth) traces in infants and children (Wertheim et al. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 2009; 94:F301-F303). As pulse oximetry is routinely used for monitoring oxygen saturation level (SpO2) in acutely wheezy children, this approach could potentially simplify RR monitoring avoiding the use of additional sensors. The aim of this study was to compare respiratory rate derived from pleth recordings with respiratory inductance plethysmography (RIP) in acutely wheezy children.
We assessed recordings from 30 children (19 male), median age 40 (range 12 to 67) months attending a children's emergency department with acute wheezing illness. A SOMNOscreen recorder (SOMNOmedics GmbH, Germany) was used to acquire pulse oximetry pleth, SpO2 and pulse rate (PR) together with thorax and abdominal RIP band data for about 5 minutes. RR from the LPF derived pleth traces was compared with abdominal RIP band data in one section with little or no artefact from each recording; sections of low amplitude pleth data were not included. The median RR from the abdominal RIP band data was 42 (range 31 to 67) per minute; median pleth derived respiratory rate was 43 (range 31 to 66), median difference (RIP minus pleth derived) was -0.7 (range -4 to +2) per minute. The median PR/RR ratio was 3.5 (range 2.2 to 5.3). The results of this study suggest that in acutely wheezy children, respiratory rate derived from good quality pulse oximetry pleth traces compares closely with abdominal RIP band data.
- Copyright ©the authors 2016
