Mind the gap.
The "oxygen saturation gap" is the difference between the calculated oxygen saturation from a standard blood gas machine and the reading from a pulse oximeter. If it is greater than 5%, the patient's hemoglobin may be abnormal, representing carbon monoxide poisoning, methemoglobinemia, or sulfhemoglobinemia. We report a case where awareness of the saturation gap led to the diagnosis of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Akhtar
Jawaid
J
Pittsburgh Poison Center, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Johnston
Bradford D
BD
Krenzelok
Edward P
EP
D002249:Carbon Monoxide Poisoning / Q000097:blood* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D006931:Hyperbaric Oxygenation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010092:Oximetry / Q000379:methods; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood*; D013405:Suicide
D010100:Oxygen