Management and Thermal Comfort of Premature Infants Under 32 Weeks

Overview

Sleep propensity was assessed in terms of the duration of a spontaneous episode of wakefulness (W). Skin temperatures at six body sites (the abdomen, pectoral region, eye, hand, thigh and foot) were measured (using infrared thermography) during nocturnal polysomnography in 29 9-day-old preterm neonates (postmenstrual age: 209 9 days). Te investigators then determined whether the duration of the W episode depended upon the local skin temperatures measured at the start, during and end of the episode.

Although sleep is of paramount importance for preterm neonates, care of the latter in a neonatal intensive care unit does not favour sleep. Given that several studies in adults have described a 'vegetative preparedness to sleep' (in which distal skin vasodilation before lights-out promotes rapid sleep onset), the investigators looked at whether or not this process operates in preterm neonates. Sleep propensity was assessed in terms of the duration of a spontaneous episode of wakefulness (W). Skin temperatures at six body sites (the abdomen, pectoral region, eye, hand, thigh and foot) were measured (using infrared thermography) during nocturnal polysomnography in 29 9-day-old preterm neonates (postmenstrual age: 209 9 days).

Conditions

Interventions

Eligibility

Outcomes