Effect of intranasal oxygen administration on arterial blood gas and acid base parameters in spontaneously delivered, term induced and induced premature foals.

This study investigates the influence of intranasal oxygen application on the levels of different gases in the blood of foals (young horses) of varying age and delivery method. It was found that oxygen administration significantly increased levels of oxygen in the blood of spontaneous and full-term induced foals, with no apparent impact from the duration of oxygen delivery.

Research Methodology

• 19 thoroughbred and pony foals aged between 0.5 and 12 hours were studied in the experiment.
• The foals were divided into three groups: spontaneously delivered foals (Group 1), term induced foals (Group 2), and induced premature foals (Group 3).
• The foals were administered oxygen through their nostrils at a flow rate of 10 litres per minute, for 10 minutes.
• In order to study the effect of the oxygen administration duration, there was a test on three foals aged five to seven days where they received oxygen for 40 minutes.
• Arterial blood samples from the foals were collected both before and after the oxygen administration for the measurement of paO2 (partial pressure of oxygen), paCO2 (partial pressure of carbon dioxide), pHa (potential of hydrogen in arterial blood), and base excess.

Key Findings

• Groups 1 and 2 showed significant increases in paO2 values – the measure of oxygen level in their blood – in response to the nasal oxygen administration.
• Interestingly, when comparing all groups, Groups 1 and 2 had significantly higher paO2 levels than Group 3, irrespective of whether they were breathing air or oxygen.
• The duration of intranasal oxygen delivery did not significantly affect the blood gas values.
• No significant observations were made in the paCO2, pH, and base excess values before and after oxygen administration.

Conclusion

• The research shows that intranasal oxygen administration increases the amount of oxygen in the blood of spontaneously delivered and term-induced foals.
• This method, however, seems to be less effective or affective in premature induced foals (Group 3) as they displayed lower oxygen levels even after the same oxygen treatment.
• The study suggests further investigations may be needed on alternative methods for oxygen administration especially for prematurely induced foals or for exploring the factors that limits oxygen absorption in such cases.