Journal of clinical monitoring and computing
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J Clin Monit Comput · Jan 1998
ReviewPulse oximetry monitoring and late postoperative hypoxemia on the general care floor.
Hypoxemia has long been recognized as a risk to patients in the operating room and postanesthesia care unit, and hemoglobin oxygen saturation (HbO2) monitoring with pulse oximetry has become a standard of care in these areas. There is growing evidence, however, suggesting that later postoperative hypoxemia also may play a role in organ dysfunction leading to morbidity and mortality. ⋯ In this environment, telemetric pulse oximetry monitoring may represent a cost-effective approach to maximizing quality of care while enhancing risk management. This review discusses late postoperative hypoxemia and identifies areas for further investigation.
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J Clin Monit Comput · Jan 1998
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialCraniofacial electromyogram activation response: another indicator of anesthetic depth.
After finding that craniofacial EMG preceding a stimulus was a poor predictor of movement response to that stimulus, we evaluated an alternative relation between EMG and movement: the difference in anesthetic depth between the endpoint of EMG responsiveness to a stimulus and endpoint of movement responsiveness to that stimulus. We expressed this relation as the increment of isoflurane between the two endpoints. ⋯ Our results suggest that, given the circumstances of our study, an EMG activation response by a nonmoving patient indicates that the patient is at an anesthetic level close to that at which movement could occur. However, because the first EMG activation response may occur simultaneously with movement, the EMG activation response cannot be relied upon to always herald a move response before it occurs. Our results also suggest that EMG responsiveness to a test stimulus may be used to estimate the anesthetic depth of an individual patient.
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J Clin Monit Comput · Jan 1998
Clinical evaluation of tracheal pressure estimation from the endotracheal tube cuff pressure.
Air flow through an endotracheal tube causes a pressure drop across the tube. This pressure drop creates a difference between air pressure measured in the trachea and the pressure measured in the breathing circuit, which can lead to errors when calculating pulmonary mechanics and when setting ventilators. We have developed a method of estimating tracheal pressure from the pressure in the endotracheal tube cuff and tested this system in clinical trials. ⋯ The flow-based tracheal pressure estimates were accurate during intermittent spontaneous breathing, but not during spontaneous breathing or with a poorly inflated cuff. The estimates were more immune to noise than the cuff-based estimates of tracheal pressure. The estimates of tracheal pressure measured from the ETT cuff should be accurate enough for clinical use in the operating room.