Effects of routine care activities on peak systolic blood pressure and transcutaneous oxygen in preterm infants

A cribside computer-based system was used to determine the responses of premature infants to routine care activities. Results from 51 infants show that such activities are often accompanied by significant rises in the arterial blood pressure and significant drops in transcutaneous oxygen. Although the medical implications of these observed changes are not fully developed at present, evidence is mounting that routine care procedures may play an important role in the causality of intraventricular hemorrhage, a leading cause of death in premature infants.