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Car seat insert reduced severity of desaturation in full-term infants
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A car seat insert that helps position an infant’s head in a certain position may reduce severity of desaturation in some infants, according to new study findings.
The insert is used to keep the head in a neutral position and reduced severity of desaturation events in full-term newborn infants, but not the overall rate of moderate desaturations, according to published study by Christine G. McIntosh, MBChB, department of physiology, faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and colleagues.
“The current study suggest that contrary to our original hypothesis, an insert designed to help maintain the head upright did not reduce the overall rate of desaturation events or affect average oxygenation in full-term babies sleeping in a car safety seat,” researchers wrote in Pediatrics. “However, encouragingly, use of the insert was associated with a marked reduction in the severity of desaturation events and the total duration of deoxygenation to <85%.”
The randomized controlled study included 78 infants studied during sleep while restrained in an infant care safety seat, with or without the insert. Continuous polysomnographic recordings with sleep video were evaluated.
Researchers found that both groups showed a small fall in mean hemoglobin oxygen saturation over the first hour of sleep. No difference was found between the insert group and no insert group for moderate desaturations. However, the insert was associated with a significant reduction in rates of obstructive sleep apnea (P<.03), severity of desaturation events (P<.001) and time with hemoglobin oxygen saturation (P=.03).
“This study shows that a simple car seat insert was useful in reducing the severity of desaturation events but not the rate of desaturation,” researchers wrote. “Given both the significant rate of events and the fall in mean oxygenation over time, the current study strongly reinforces recommendations that even with such an insert, young infants should never be left unattended in car seat carriers, or indeed any seat device, and that car seat use should be restricted to the minimum time required for essential travel.”
Disclosure: The study was funded in part by the Auckland Medical Research Foundation and Cure Kids. The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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