Electrocardiogram shows reliable heart rates much earlier than pulse oximetry during neonatal resuscitation
Pediatrics International, 04/27/2012
Mizumoto H et al. – ECG was a safe and reliable method for showing heart rate (HR), and was used to determine the initiation and the effectiveness of resuscitation in the delivery room.
Methods- Both pulse oximetry (PO) and ECG were applied immediately after delivery to measure heart rate (HR).
- The authors reviewed video recordings of the respective monitors, and checked the time at which each monitor started to display reliable rate values.
- In 20 deliveries, ECG showed HR much earlier than PO (median 38 s vs 122 s after delivery).
- ECG displayed reliable HR throughout resuscitation.
