Pattern of changes of arterial blood gas in patients with acute bronchiolitis

Abstract

Objectives: To compare the changes in arterial blood gas (ABG) in infants diagnosed with acute bronchiolitis and infants without acute bronchiolitis.

Study Design: Case control study.

Place and Duration of study: This study was conducted over a period of 6 months at the pediatric unit, Mardan Medical Complex, Mardan, Pakistan, from 1st July 2022 to 31st December 2022.

Methods: A total of 60 infants were selected for the study.  Out of these, 30 infants diagnosed with acute bronchiolitis were included in the case study group while 30 infants not diagnosed with acute bronchiolitis were included in the control group. All the demographics and clinical findings were recorded for the infants with acute bronchiolitis. ABG parameters including pCO₂, pH, SatO₂ and SpO₂ were analyzed for both the groups. The primary outcome was set as changes in ABG in infants with acute bronchiolitis compared to control group.

Results: The Mean±SD of age in this study was 5.4±2.06 months with an age of 1-10 months. Male gender was 55% while female gender was 45%. The comparison of ABG between the study group and control group shows a statistically significant difference in pCO₂ (40.29±5.01 Vs 34.01±2.60, p=0.00), pH (7.41±0.02 Vs 7.43±0.01, p=0.00), SatO₂ (89.16±3.55 Vs 94.01±2.42, p=0.00) and SpO₂ (93.83±1.68 Vs 95.83±1.46, p=0.00) indicating the patterns of ABG in patients suffering from acute bronchiolitis.

Conclusions:  Patterns of changes in ABG gives objective measures for evaluating respiratory decompensation in infants with acute bronchiolitis.