title: Monitoring carbon dioxide in critical care: the newest vital sign?
abstract: Carbon dioxide (CO(2)) monitoring can yield substantial information about cardiac and pulmonary function. Because capnography is not complicated, it is relatively easy to apply in a wide variety of clinical settings. A new area of CO(2) measurement is sublingual CO(2). Although outcomes data are as yet unavailable for this technology, its ease of use makes it an attractive monitoring tool to assess severity of illness and predict patients' responses to therapy. This article describes the pathophysiology and clinical applications of the technologies and describes why they may well be "the newest vital signs."
authors.affiliation: Barnes-Jewish Hospital, One Barnes-Jewish Hospital Plaza, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA. tsa2109@bjc.org
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ahrens
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001784:Blood Gas Analysis / Q000379:methods / Q000451:nursing; D001944:Breath Tests / Q000379:methods; D019296:Capnography / Q000379:methods / Q000451:nursing; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood; D003422:Critical Care / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006935:Hypercapnia / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis; D016857:Hypocapnia / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000379:methods* / Q000451:nursing; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014059:Tongue / Q000098:blood supply
chemical_list: D002245:Carbon Dioxide