Kangaroo care improves post-extubation cardiorespiratory parameters in infants after open heart surgery.
The aim of this investigation was to study whether kangaroo care could be helpful in full-term infants subjected to cardiac postoperative intensive care during the early post-extubation hours. Kangaroo care was performed at 2-h intervals in the first 12 h after extubation in 5 male infants and assessed by cardiorespiratory parameters. Results showed that, during kangaroo care, heart rate (123 +/- 4 vs 128 +/- 5 bpm), respiratory frequency (43 +/- 3 vs 51 +/- 5 breath pm), transcutaneous carbon dioxide (46 +/- 2 vs 50 +/- 4 mmHg) and central venous pressure (11 +/- 0.8 vs 12 +/- 1.2 mmHg) significantly decreased (p <0.05 for all), while oxygen saturation (78 +/- 6 vs 74 5 mmHg) and transcutaneous oxygen pressure increased (42 +/- 2 vs 38 +/- 3 mmHg) (p < 0.05 for all).


CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that kangaroo care might be a useful technique contributing to stabilization of the cardiorespiratory status in postoperative paediatric cardiac intensive care.
Department of Neonatology, G Gaslini Children's Hospital, Genoa, Italy. dgazzolo@hotmail.com
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D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods; D002315:Cardiopulmonary Bypass; D005260:Female; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000601:surgery*; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D007224:Infant Care / Q000379:methods; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D015931:Intensive Care, Neonatal / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic; D011182:Postoperative Care / Q000379:methods*