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Does preoperative night pulse oximetry provide a reliable baseline?
Author(s) -
Rasmussen L. S.,
Kjær M.,
Vogt K.,
Moller J. T.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
acta anaesthesiologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 107
eISSN - 1399-6576
pISSN - 0001-5172
DOI - 10.1034/j.1399-6576.1999.430108.x
Subject(s) - medicine , pulse oximetry , nocturnal , oxygen saturation , anesthesia , surgery , oxygen , chemistry , organic chemistry
Background: Postoperative hypoxaemia may be detected by pulse oximetry monitoring of the arterial haemoglobin saturation (S p O 2 ). The S p O 2 ‐values obtained on the preoperative night are presumed to represent baseline values for the patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible difference between nocturnal S p O 2 ‐values in the patient’s home and in the hospital before operation. Methods: We included 20 patients, 60 years or older, who underwent continuous monitoring of S p O 2 on one night in the patient’s home and on the night following hospitalisation before surgery. The alarms were turned off and the values were not accessible to the hospital staff. The S p O 2 value was stored every 10 s. We described the general oxygen saturation level using the median of all valid values and we calculated the number of valid S p O 2 ‐values at 3 levels: above 90%, between 86 and 90%, and below 86%. Results: The number of valid S p O 2 ‐values at home and in the hospital were 2186 and 2330, respectively; the median value was 96% on both occasions. Only 0.36% of the values were below 91% on the two occasions and there were no statistically significant differences between the number of S p O 2 ‐values at any of the considered levels. Conclusion: Arterial oxygen saturation values measured on the preoperative night in the hospital seem reliable as baseline values for elderly patients.