Complete physical examination was performed immediately after birth through neonatal Apgar
score of vitality adapted to lambs (
and respiratory rate (RR). Furthermore, lambs were evaluated for their rectal temperatures
at the same time that the Apgar assessment was performed.
Immediately after clinical evaluation, arterial blood samples were collected by femoral
artery puncture with heparinized sterile needles and syringes for hemogasometric analysis.
We used i-STAT® portable analyzer (Abbott) with the EG7+ cartridge,
which provided the following data: pH, pO2 (oxygen pressure - mmHg), pCO2 (pressure of carbon dioxide - mmHg), TCO2 (total carbon dioxide - mmol/L),
HCO3- (bicarbonate - mmol/L), BE (base excess - mmol/L), SO2 (oxygen
saturation - %), sodium (Na+ - mmol/L) and potassium (K+ - mmol/L).
Blood glucose concentration was determined in venous samples taken from jugular vein. A drop
of blood was inserted in a glucometer (Advantage Monitor®, Roche Diagnostics)
and the result was expressed as mmol/L.