title: Pulse oximetry for hypoxemia: a warning to users and manufacturers.
abstract: Pulse oximetry represents a major advance in patient monitoring, but measurement below 70 to 80% saturation has important limitations. Several authors have tested pulse oximetry at low saturations with conflicting results. A review of these data indicates that every patient with a pulse oximeter value below 75 to 80% SaO2 should have one or more invasive measurements of the arterial SaO2 in order to avoid undetected severe hypoxemia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fanconi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D003422:Critical Care; D004285:Dogs; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D007223:Infant; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic; D010092:Oximetry