STOP-ROP Effective FIO2 Conversion Tables
For Infants on Nasal Cannula
Example:
What is the effective FIO2 of a 1.5 KG Infant on 100% cannula oxygen at a flow of 0.25
LPM?
Answer: Use 1.5 KG and 0.25 LPM in table 1 to get a factor of 17. Use the factor of
17 and 100% in table 2 to get an effective FIO2 of 0.34.
Assumptions:
The tables should be reasonably accurate for most STOP-ROP infants. Benaron and Benitz
assumed that there is a constant nasal flow over the inspiratory cycle and that the upper
airway does not act as a reservoir. Additional assumptions for STOPP-ROP infants include:
• Inspiration time = 0.3 seconds
• Tidal volume = 5 ml per KG body weight
• Either inspiration is entirely nasal, or cannula flow is low enough so that, on each
inspiration, the infant inhales all output from the cannula.
Table 1: Factor as a function of flow and weight
FLOW WEIGHT (KG)
(LPM) 0.7 1 1.25 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5.5
0.01 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
0.03 4 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1
0.06 9 6 5 4 3 2 2 2 2 1 1
0.15 21 15 12 10 8 6 5 4 4 3 3
0.25 36 25 20 17 13 10 8 7 6 6 5
0.5 71 50 40 33 25 20 17 14 13 11 9
0.75 100 75 60 50 38 30 25 21 19 17 14
1 100 100 80 67 50 40 33 29 25 22 18
1.25 100 100 100 83 63 50 42 36 31 28 23
1.5 100 100 100 100 75 60 50 43 38 33 27
2 100 100 100 100 100 80 67 57 60 44 36
3 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 86 75 67 55
Factor = 100 * min (1, LPM/KG)
The tables are adapted from equations (3) and (4) in:
Benaron DA & Benitz WE, “Maximizing the Stability of Oxygen Delivered Via Nasal
Cannula” Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 148:294-300, March 1994.
Rule of Thumb (already implicit in the tables):
For most STOP-ROP infants, if flow (LPM) exceeds body weight (KG), then effective
FIO2 equals nasal cannula oxygen concentration.
Table 2: Effective FIO2 (x 100) as a function of factor and concentration
Oxygen Concentration in Cannula (%)
Factor 21 22 25 30 40 50 100
0 21 21 21 21 21 21 21
1 21 21 21 21 21 21 22
2 21 21 21 21 21 22 23
3 21 21 21 21 22 22 23
4 21 21 21 21 22 22 24
5 21 21 21 21 22 22 25
6 21 21 21 22 22 23 26
7 21 21 21 22 22 23 27
8 21 21 21 22 23 23 27
9 21 21 21 22 23 24 28
10 21 21 21 22 23 24 29
11 21 21 21 22 23 24 30
12 21 21 21 22 23 24 30
13 21 21 22 22 23 25 31
14 21 21 22 22 24 25 32
15 21 21 22 22 24 25 33
17 21 21 22 23 24 26 34
18 21 21 22 23 24 26 35
19 21 21 22 23 25 27 36
20 21 21 22 23 25 27 37
21 21 21 22 23 25 27 38
22 21 21 22 23 25 27 38
23 21 21 22 23 25 28 39
25 21 21 22 23 26 28 41
27 21 21 22 23 26 29 42
28 21 21 22 24 26 29 43
29 21 21 22 24 27 29 44
30 21 21 22 24 27 30 45
31 21 21 22 24 27 30 45
33 21 21 22 24 27 31 47
36 21 21 22 24 28 31 49
38 21 21 23 24 28 32 51
40 21 21 23 25 29 33 53
42 21 21 23 25 29 33 54
43 21 21 23 25 29 33 55
44 21 21 23 25 29 34 56
50 21 21 23 25 30 35 60
55 21 22 23 26 31 37 64
57 21 22 23 26 32 38 66
60 21 22 23 26 32 38 68
63 21 22 24 27 33 39 71
67 21 22 24 27 34 40 74
71 21 22 24 27 34 42 77
75 21 22 24 28 35 43 80
80 21 22 24 28 36 44 84
83 21 22 24 28 37 45 87
86 21 22 24 29 37 46 89
100 21 22 25 30 40 50 100