Annals of emergency medicine
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Transcutaneous (PtcO2) and conjunctival (PcjO2) oxygen tensions and transcutaneous (PtcCO2) carbon dioxide tension were serially measured in 31 critically ill patients. Sixteen patients maintained a normal or greater blood pressure and 15 patients were severely hypotensive (MAP less than 60 mm Hg) or suffered cardiac arrest while in the emergency department. In hemodynamically stable patients, the correlations between PtcO2 and PaO2, PcjO2 and PaO2, and PtcCO2 and PaCO2 were significant, with correlation coefficients (r values) of 0.62, 0.48, and 0.73, respectively. ⋯ Transcutaneous and conjunctival sensors can be used as continuous monitors of respiratory status in hemodynamically stable patients. In severely hypotensive patients and during cardiopulmonary resuscitation, these sensors no longer accurately reflect arterial blood gases, but act as sensitive real-time monitors of cardiac function and peripheral perfusion. PcjO2 can detect deterioration of clinical state before alterations in blood pressure occur.