Splanchnic NIRS monitoring in neonatal care: rationale, current applications and future perspectives

Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) provides a non-invasive, continuous monitoring of regional tissue oxygenation. NIRS assessment of neonatal splanchnic oxygenation (SrSO2) has gained increasing interest over the last decade, as local hypoxia and ischemia underlie the most feared gut complications in neonates. Current literature provides encouraging evidence in support of SrSO2 reliability in detecting mesenteric hemodynamic changes related to various physiological and pathological conditions in-term and preterm infants. Even so, while splanchnic NIRS monitoring looks promising for investigating gut physiopathology in research settings, further studies are needed to evaluate its feasibility as a routine monitoring tool in neonatal care and to investigate its potential role in clinical decision making. After a brief introduction to NIRS technical principles, this review aims to provide a complete overview of current neonatal applications for splanchnic NIRS monitoring, to discuss its possible limitations and to suggest future directions for research and clinical applications.