Internal medicine journal
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Internal medicine journal · Aug 2011
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyAssessing PaCO2 in acute respiratory disease: accuracy of a transcutaneous carbon dioxide device.
Pulse oximetry non-invasively assesses the arterial oxygen saturation of patients with acute respiratory disease; however, measurement of the arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO(2)) requires an arterial blood gas. The transcutaneous partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PtCO(2) ) has been used in other settings with variable accuracy. We investigated the accuracy of a PtCO(2) device in the assessment of PaCO(2) in patients with asthma and suspected pneumonia attending the emergency department. ⋯ A PtCO(2) device was accurate in the assessment of PaCO(2) in patients with acute severe asthma and suspected pneumonia when compared with an arterial blood gas. These bedside monitors have the potential to improve patient care by non-invasively monitoring patients with acute respiratory disease at risk of hypercapnia.