Insertion of pulmonary artery catheters--a comparison of fiberoptic and nonfiberoptic catheters.
Fiberoptic (FO) pulmonary artery catheters were compared prospectively to the conventional type to observe the degree of insertion difficulty, the rate of complications, and the amount of technical faults. The inclusion of fiberoptic bundles in pulmonary artery catheters potentially altered their stiffness, thus influencing their passage from the central venous system to the pulmonary artery. Records were kept on the insertion of 287 consecutive pulmonary artery catheters, 44 of which contained fiberoptics for the continuous measurement of mixed-venous oxygen saturation ( SvO2 ). Results showed that the FO catheter was similar to the nonfiberoptic ( NFO ) model and could thus serve as an alternative to the conventional catheter when continuous monitoring of SvO2 was indicated.
D006328:Cardiac Catheterization / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011651:Pulmonary Artery
D010100:Oxygen