Investigating the Effects of Protective Face Masks on the Respiratory Parameters of Children in the Postanesthesia Care Unit During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Burhan Dost, Özgür Kömürcü, Sezgin Bilgin and 3 others
PMID 34824000WHAT IT FOUND
In 40 children in the first 45 minutes after surgery, putting a protective face mask over or under an oxygen mask made no clear difference to carbon dioxide in the breath, oxygen saturation, breathing rate, or heart rate.
All oxygen saturations stayed at least 92%.
Key findings
01The primary outcome, carbon dioxide in the breath, did not differ significantly between the two mask placement groups (P = .14).
02No child's oxygen saturation dropped below 92% while wearing a mask.
03Breathing rate did not differ between groups (P = .72).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only 40 healthy children aged 3 to 10 years were studied, all with negative COVID-19 tests and no respiratory disease, so results do not apply to younger children, emergency surgery, or children with breathing problems. Follow-up was only 45 minutes in the recovery unit, so longer mask use was not tested. Every child wore a protective mask, so the study cannot compare masked with unmasked recovery. The report gives conflicting significance for oxygen saturation: the text says P = .31, while Table 2 shows group P = .02. The paper does not describe blinding of outcome assessment, although measurements were objective monitor values.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that face masks are safe for all children or that monitoring can be reduced. The study included only healthy children aged 3 to 10 years after elective surgery, observed them for 45 minutes, and planned to remove the mask and increase oxygen if saturation fell below 92%.