8 month old child with a cold. Oxygen saturation at night between 80 and 90 percent.
March 30, 2013 | 20,00 EUR | answered by Dr. med. Kathrin Hamann
Dear Doctor,
Our son is 8 months old and was born with a severe heart defect (simple TGA). He has undergone a successful surgery, does not take any medication, and is developing very well. He is currently experiencing his second cold, and this time he is quite congested. The mucus is located in the area of the larynx, which causes our son to have audible rattling breathing. For this reason, we were in the hospital with him until yesterday, where he received oxygen at times. Pneumonia, bacterial infection, and RSV were ruled out in the hospital. It seems to be a "normal" cold virus.
After being very stressed in the hospital and unable to rest there, we brought him home after two nights. We were given a SpO2 monitoring device from the hospital. The doctor set the alarm to a lower limit of 85% oxygen saturation.
During the day, our son's oxygen saturation levels are between 92% and 97%. At night, it drops to 85% (sometimes between 80% and 85%), which triggers the alarm on the device.
Our question:
Is it harmful if our son's oxygen saturation drops below 90% at night, or can this cause permanent damage?
Thank you
Family M.
Hello, I am happy to help you further.
Congratulations on the successful operation of the sTGA.
Now to your question regarding oxygen drop at night. Yes, prolonged oxygen undersupply can lead to permanent brain damage. Below 80% oxygen is critical. 85-90 is not optimal, but the breathing stimulus is increased at this lowered sPO2, which is why despite infection, breathing accelerates at night. Breathing frequencies of 20-25 per minute would still be within the normal range. However, a condition called Tachypnea (with a significantly higher number of breaths per minute) is not acceptable and should definitely be supplied with oxygen.
Permanently lowered SPO2 values lead to early dementia, as seen in heavy smokers over the years.
However, this low oxygen content in the blood should be evaluated differently in terms of childhood brain development. Here, one should actually consider oxygen supply overnight in order not to endanger brain development.
Please discuss this possibility of outpatient oxygen supply at the clinic. Through the clinic's social service, you can organize an outpatient oxygen tank within 12 hours, even on holidays. You can also borrow one from the clinic if needed. This tank, with 1-2 liters of O2, lasts for 6-12 hours depending on the fill level.
Moisten the room air with damp towels + Babix drops, as this soothes irritated airways and makes breathing much easier.
Do you have any questions about this? I am happy to help you further.
All the best and a speedy recovery.
Best regards,
Your
Dr. K. Hamann
Best regards,
Dr. K. Hamann
