Ventilation monitoring is commonly accomplished with pulse oximetry or end-tidal CO2 detection. Interestingly, end-tidal oximetry has been shown to change more rapidly in response to hypo- or hyper-ventilation than either of the above parameters. More importantly, in the presence of profound hypoventilation, clinically important decline in pulse oximetry may occur minutes following its onset.
While end-tidal oximetry remains in its infancy, there is promising research that offers targeted areas for use (and future research):
- ventilation changes – such as procedural sedation/monitored anesthesia care (MAC)
- pre-oxygenation during rapid sequence induction and intubation (RSI)
- pulmonary embolism
For more information, visit GE Healthcare Clinical View for a recently prepared white paper on this topic.
