• Nabin Rauniyar, Shyam Pujari, and Pradeep Shrestha.
• Department of Internal Medicine, Nepal Police Hospital, Nepal.
• JNMA J Nepal Med Assoc. 2020 Oct 15; 58 (230): 789-793.

IntroductionPulse oximetery is expected to be an indirect estimation of arterial oxygen saturation. However, there often are gaps between SpO2 and SaO2. This study aims to study on arterial oxygen saturation measured by pulse oximetry and arterial blood gas among patients admitted in intensive care unit.MethodsIt was a hospital-based descriptive cross-sectional study in which 101 patients meeting inclusion criteria were studied. SpO2 and SaO2 were measured simultaneously. Mean±SD of SpO2 and SaO2 with accuracy, sensitivity and specificity were measured.ResultsAccording to SpO2 values, out of 101 patients, 26 (25.7%) were hypoxemic and 75 (74.25%) were non-hypoxemic. The mean±SD of SaO2 and SpO2 were 93.22±7.84% and 92.85±6.33% respectively. In 21 patients with spO2 less than 90%,the mean±SD SaO2 and SpO2 were 91.63±4.92 and 87.42±2.29 respectively. In 5 patients with SpO2 less 80%, the mean±SD of SaO2 and SpO2 were: 63.40±3.43 and 71.80±4.28, respectively. In non-hypoxemic group based on SpO2 values, the mean±SD of SpO2 and SaO2 were 95.773±2.19% and 95.654±3.01%, respectively. The agreement rate of SpO2 and SaO2 was 83.2%, and sensitivity and specificity of PO were 84.6% and 83%, respectively.ConclusionsPulse Oximetry has high accuracy in estimating oxygen saturation with sp02>90% and can be used instead of arterial blood gas.

7 keywords...

hide…