Relationship Between Near-Infrared Spectroscopy and Transabdominal Ultrasonography: Noninvasive Monitoring of Intestinal Function in Neonates

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has the potential to continuously and noninvasively monitor intestinal function. This technology may be valuable because among neonates, intestinal maturity is highly variable and difficult to assess based solely on clinical signs. The aim of this study was to determine if there is an association between NIRS-based StO2 measurements and peristaltic activity assessed by transabdominal ultrasonography (US). Nineteen neonates of gestational age >32 weeks were categorized according to "no/low" versus "normal/hyperactive" motility levels, based on blinded US scan results. StO2 was recorded every 2 s for 24 h, following the ultrasound recording. Differences between the resulting estimates of average StO2 (bias of fits) and goodness-of-fit (residuals) were evaluated. Newborns with normal/hyperactive motility had higher mean StO2 than newborns with no/low motility (72.3±4.4 vs. 65.5±7.9, p