ABSTRACT
Although only a small fraction of all neonates require
extensive resuscitation, the large number of births through-
out the world ensures that adequate neonatal intensive care
facilities remain on the cutting edge of technology. Advance-
ments in monitoring, ventilatory support, vascular access,
and maintenance of core body temperature have been
paramount in the vast increase in the survival rates of
newborns.1 New innovations in size and materials coupled
with new routes of vascular access have been paramount for
neonatologists in regards to invasive monitoring, ionotropic
support, and total parental nutrition. Invasive monitoring
includes both continuous blood pressure measurements and
also the ability to obtain arterial blood for up to the minute
blood gas measurements for ventilatory support. Smaller
catheter size and peripheral central routes have enabled the
neonatologist to maximize the use of blood products,
electrolytes, drug delivery, and nutrition, especially in those
neonates that are unable to tolerate enteral nutrition for
long periods of time. These new catheters now allow for
smaller and sicker neonates to gain the same advantage that
was once only available to larger infants within the intensive
care unit.
