title: Techniques to assess tissue oxygenation in the clinical setting.
abstract: The microcirculation plays an essential role in health and disease. Microvascular perfusion can be assessed directly using laser Doppler flowmetry and various imaging techniques or indirectly using regional capnometry and measurement of indicators of mismatch between oxygen delivery and oxygen consumption or indices of disturbed cellular oxygen utilization. Assessment of microvascular oxygen availability implies measurement of oxygen pressure or measurement of hemoglobin oxygen saturation. Microvascular function is assessed using other methods, including venous plethysmography. In this paper, I review current knowledge concerning assessment of the microcirculation with special emphasis on methods that could be used at the bedside.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Friedrich Schiller University Hospital, Erlanger Allee 101, Jena 07743, Germany. yasser.sakr@med.uni-jena.de
authors.forename: Yasser
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sakr
mesh_terms: D015687:Cell Hypoxia / Q000502:physiology; D004566:Electrodes; D006801:Humans; D017078:Laser-Doppler Flowmetry; D008833:Microcirculation; D010100:Oxygen / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood*; D010477:Perfusion; D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen