Journal of clinical monitoring and computing
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J Clin Monit Comput · Aug 2015
Hypoxic guard systems do not prevent rapid hypoxic inspired mixture formation.
Because a case report and theoretical mass balances suggested that hypoxic guard systems may not prevent the formation of hypoxic inspired mixtures (FIO2 ≤ 21 %) over the clinically used fresh gas flow (FGF) range, we measured FIO2 over a wide range of hypoxic guard limits for O2/N2O and O2/air mixtures. After IRB approval, 16 ASA I-II patients received sevoflurane in either O2/N2O (n = 8) or O2/air (n = 8) using a Zeus(®) anesthesia machine in the conventional mode. After using an 8 L/min FGF with FDO2 = 25% for 10 min, the following hypoxic guard limits were tested for 4 min each, expressed as [total FGF in L/min; FDO2 in %]: [0.3;85], [0.4;65], [0.5;50], [0.7;36], [0.85;30], [1.0;25], [1.25;25], [1.5;25], [2;25], [3;25], [5;25], and [8;25]. ⋯ In all 1, 1.25, and 1.5 L/min FGF groups, FIO2 decreased below 21% in all but one patient; this occurred within 1 min in at least one patient. In the 0.7 L/min O2/air group and the 3 L/min late O2/N2O and O2/air groups, FIO2 decreased below 21% in one patient. Current hypoxic guard systems do not reliably prevent a hypoxic FIO2 with O2/N2O and O2/air mixtures, particularly between 0.7 and 3 L/min.
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J Clin Monit Comput · Aug 2015
Randomized Controlled TrialTranscutaneous continuous carbon dioxide tension monitoring reduced incidence, degree and duration of hypercapnia during combined regional anaesthesia and monitored anaesthesia care in shoulder surgery patients.
We studied the impact of transcutaneous continuous carbon dioxide tension (PtcCO2) monitoring on ventilation and oxygenation during monitored anaesthesia care (MAC) in patients scheduled for shoulder surgery with continuous interscalene block. 50 patients were randomised either to the intervention (I-group) or the control (C-group) group. In both groups MAC was performed using target controlled infusion of propofol and remifentanil. MAC regimen was adapted to PtcCO2 values in the I-group, whereas the C-group was blinded for these values. ⋯ Sensitivity and specificity of PtcCO2 to detect changes of PaCO2 was 0.94 and 0.56, respectively. In no patient SpO2 or SaO2 values lower than 90% were measured. Despite a moderate agreement between PaCO2 and PtcCO2 the PtcCO2 monitoring significantly reduced incidence, degree and duration of hypercapnia in shoulder surgery patients with MAC.
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J Clin Monit Comput · Aug 2015
The accuracy of respiratory rate assessment by doctors in a London teaching hospital: a cross-sectional study.
Respiratory rate (RR) is one of the most sensitive markers of a patient condition and a core aspect of multiple clinical assessment tools. Doctors use a number of methods to assess RR, including formal measurement, and 'spot' assessments, although this is not recommended. This study aimed to assess the accuracy of the methods of RR measurement being used by doctors. ⋯ We observed a trend towards decreasing accuracy of 'spot' assessments with increasing clinical experience (p = 0.0490). Current methods of RR assessment by doctors are inaccurate. This may be significantly delaying appropriate clinical care, or even misguiding treatment.
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J Clin Monit Comput · Aug 2015
Effect of concurrent oxygen therapy on accuracy of forecasting imminent postoperative desaturation.
Episodic postoperative desaturation occurs predominantly from respiratory depression or airway obstruction. Monitor display of desaturation is typically delayed by over 30 s after these dynamic inciting events, due to perfusion delays, signal capture and averaging. Prediction of imminent critical desaturation could aid development of dynamic high-fidelity response systems that reduce or prevent the inciting event from occurring. ⋯ In conclusion, we report the use of autoregressive models to predict [Formula: see text] and forecast imminent critical desaturation events in the postoperative period with high degree of accuracy. These models reliably predict critical desaturation in patients receiving supplemental oxygen therapy. While high-fidelity prophylactic interventions that could modify these inciting events are in development, our current study offers proof of concept that the afferent limb of such a system can be modeled with a high degree of accuracy.
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J Clin Monit Comput · Aug 2015
Observational StudyReliability of a new 4th generation FloTrac algorithm to track cardiac output changes in patients receiving phenylephrine.
Phenylephrine is often used to treat intra-operative hypotension. Previous studies have shown that the FloTrac cardiac monitor may overestimate cardiac output (CO) changes following phenylephrine administration. A new algorithm (4th generation) has been developed to improve performance in this setting. ⋯ Agreement between FloTrac G3 and Nexfin was: 0.23 ± 1.19 l/min and concordance was 51.1%. In contrast, agreement between FloTrac G4 and Nexfin was: 0.19 ± 0.86 l/min and concordance was 87.2%. In conclusion, the pulse contour method of measuring CO, as implemented in FloTrac 4th generation algorithm, has significantly improved its ability to track the changes in CO induced by phenylephrine.