Clinical outcomes of preterm infants while using automated controllers during standard care: comparison of cohorts with different automated titration strategies

Objective To compare short-term clinical outcome after using two different automated oxygen controllers (OxyGenie and CLiO2). Design Propensity score-matched retrospective observational study. Setting Tertiary-level neonatal unit in the Netherlands. Patients Preterm infants (OxyGenie n=121, CLiO2 n=121) born between 24+0-29+6 weeks of gestation. Median (IQR) gestational age in the OxyGenie cohort was 28+3 (26+3.5-29+0) vs 27+5 (26+5-28+3) in the CLiO2 cohort, respectively 42% and 46% of infants were male and mean (SD) birth weight was 1034 (266) g vs 1022 (242) g. Interventions Inspired oxygen was titrated by OxyGenie (SLE6000) or CLiO2 (AVEA) during respiratory support. Main outcome measures Mortality, retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), bronchopulmonary dysplasia and necrotising enterocolitis. Results Fewer infants in the OxyGenie group received laser coagulation for ROP (1 infant vs 10; risk ratio 0.1 (95% CI 0.0 to 0.7); p=0.008), and infants stayed shorter in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) (28 (95% CI 15 to 42) vs 40 (95% CI 25 to 61) days; median difference 13.5 days (95% CI 8.5 to 19.5); p<0.001). Infants in the OxyGenie group had fewer days on continuous positive airway pressure (8.4 (95% CI 4.8 to 19.8) days vs 16.7 (95% CI 6.3 to 31.1); p<0.001) and a significantly shorter days on invasive ventilation (0 (95% CI 0 to 4.2) days vs 2.1 (95% CI 0 to 8.4); p=0.012). There were no statistically significant differences in all other morbidities. Conclusions In this propensity score-matched retrospective study, the OxyGenie epoch was associated with less morbidity when compared with the CLiO2 epoch. There were significantly fewer infants that received treatment for ROP, received less intensive respiratory support and, although there were more supplemental oxygen days, the duration of stay in the NICU was shorter. A larger study will have to replicate these findings. This study compared the outcomes of matched cohorts of preterm infants who were treated using 2 different automated oxygen controllers. Differences in morbidity were observed. The data suggest that it cannot be assumed that different automated controllers will produce similar results and that randomised controlled trials will be necessary to refine their use appropriately.

Automated summary

This retrospective study compared the outcomes of preterm infants treated with two different automated oxygen controllers. It was found that using the OxyGenie controller resulted in fewer complications, fewer patients needing treatment for ROP, and shorter duration of respiratory support.