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Time to Equilibration of Oxygen Saturation Using Pulse Oximetry
Author(s) -
Gruber Peter,
Kwiatkowski Thomas,
Silverrnan Robert,
Flaster Edith,
Auerbach Charles
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
academic emergency medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.221
H-Index - 124
eISSN - 1553-2712
pISSN - 1069-6563
DOI - 10.1111/j.1553-2712.1995.tb03276.x
Subject(s) - medicine , pulse oximetry , nasal cannula , saturation (graph theory) , anesthesia , cannula , oxygen saturation , confidence interval , oxygen , surgery , nuclear medicine , chemistry , mathematics , organic chemistry , combinatorics
Objective: To determine the time it takes for O 2 , saturation measured by pulse oximetry to equilibrate after a change is made in supplemental O 2 , administered by nasal cannula in patients with cardiac and pulmonary disease. Methods: A prospective, observational study of a convenience sample of 51 patients treated in a university‐affiliated ED with nasal cannula O 2 . Patients were placed on and/or subsequently taken off O 2 via nasal cannula set at 2 or 4L/min based on clinical indications. Oxygen saturation was measured at l‐minute intervals over a 30‐minute period using finger‐probe pulse oximetry. Of the 51 patients in the study, 43 were monitored while O 2 , treatment was initiated and 18 were monitored when it was discontinued. Results: Most (95%) of the patients placed on O 2 , attained equilibration of O 2 , saturation within 3.5 minutes. Most (95%) of the patients taken off supplemental O 2 , attained equilibration of O 2 , saturation within 4.5 minutes. Conclusion: The interval to equilibration of O 2 , saturation in patients receiving O 2 by nasal cannula is considerably shorter than the 20–30 minutes generally suggested. Adequacy of O 2 , supplementation should be assessable much sooner than was previously taught.