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The desaturation response time of finger pulse oximeters during mild hypothermia *
Author(s) -
MacLeod D. B.,
Cortinez L. I.,
Keifer J. C.,
Cameron D.,
Wright D. R.,
White W. D.,
Moretti E. W.,
Radulescu L. R.,
Somma J.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
anaesthesia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.839
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1365-2044
pISSN - 0003-2409
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2044.2004.04033.x
Subject(s) - medicine , hypothermia , forehead , anesthesia , vasodilation , vasoconstriction , hypoxia (environmental) , surgery , cardiology , oxygen , chemistry , organic chemistry
Summary Pulse oximeters may delay displaying the correct oxygen saturation during the onset of hypoxia. We investigated the desaturation response times of pulse oximeter sensors (forehead, ear and finger) during vasoconstriction due to mild hypothermia and vasodilation caused by glyceryl trinitrate. Ten healthy male volunteers were given three hypoxic challenges of 3 min duration under differing experimental conditions. Mild hypothermia increased the mean response time of finger oximeters from 130 to 215 s. Glyceryl trinitrate partly offset this effect by reducing the response time from 215 to 187 s. In contrast, the response times of the forehead and ear oximeters were unaffected by mild hypothermia, but the difference between head and finger oximeters was highly significant (p < 0.0001). The results suggest that the head oximeters provide a better monitoring site for pulse oximeters during mild hypothermia.