title: Pulse oximetry monitoring and late postoperative hypoxemia on the general care floor.
abstract: Hypoxemia has long been recognized as a risk to patients in the operating room and postanesthesia care unit, and hemoglobin oxygen saturation (HbO2) monitoring with pulse oximetry has become a standard of care in these areas. There is growing evidence, however, suggesting that later postoperative hypoxemia also may play a role in organ dysfunction leading to morbidity and mortality. Economic pressures to move patients earlier from expensive postanesthesia recovery and intensive care areas to the general care floor -- where nurse-to-patient ratios are lower and lines of sight and sound may be impaired by walls and curtains -- may lead to inadequate surveillance of at-risk patients. These patient-management trends underscore the importance of improved monitoring of respiratory status on the general care floor. In this environment, telemetric pulse oximetry monitoring may represent a cost-effective approach to maximizing quality of care while enhancing risk management. This review discusses late postoperative hypoxemia and identifies areas for further investigation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson 39216-4505, USA.
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Eichhorn
mesh_terms: D000762:Anesthesia Recovery Period; D003363:Cost Control; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003422:Critical Care / Q000191:economics; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism; D006757:Hospital Units; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000451:nursing / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000451:nursing; D009873:Operating Rooms; D010092:Oximetry / Q000451:nursing; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000451:nursing / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012119:Respiration / Q000502:physiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012308:Risk Management; D013686:Telemetry
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; D010100:Oxygen