title: Evaluation of a transportable capnometer for monitoring end-tidal carbon dioxide.
abstract: We compared a small and transportable Capnometer (EMMA™) with a reference capnometer, the Siesta i TS Anaesthesia. During air-breathing through a facemask, both the EMMA (nine modules) and reference capnometer sampled expired gas simultaneously. A wide range of end-tidal carbon dioxide values were obtained during inhalation of carbon dioxide and voluntary hyperventilation. The median IQR [range] difference between all sets of carbon dioxide values (EMMA - reference) was -0.3 (-0.6 to 0.0 [-1.7 to 1.6] kPa; n = 297) using new batteries, which was statistically significant (p = 0.04) and located to two of the nine EMMAs tested. Using batteries with reduced voltage did not influence the measurements. The 95% CI of the medians of the differences were -0.4 to -0.2. We conclude that the EMMA can slightly under-read the end-tidal carbon dioxide but is generally comparable with a free-standing monitor. The precision of the EMMAs was similar whether new batteries or batteries with reduced voltage were used.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Glostrup Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. vonhildebrandt@yahoo.dk
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hildebrandt
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Espelund
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Olsen
mesh_terms: D001944:Breath Tests / Q000295:instrumentation; D019296:Capnography / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000032:analysis*; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D008397:Masks; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000295:instrumentation*; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014187:Transportation of Patients
chemical_list: D002245:Carbon Dioxide