title: Detection of hypoxia in the early postoperative period.
abstract: The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of early postoperative hypoxia after general anesthesia and to evaluate the need of oxygen supplementation. A total of 150 patients aged between 18-60 years belonging to ASA I or II were studied. Patients were alternately allocated to two groups of 75 each. Group-I (n=75) patients received 2 L of oxygen via nasopharyngeal catheter during transfer from operation theatre to recovery room and in the recovery room for a period of 4 h. Group-II (n=75) patients did not receive oxygen either during transfer or in the recovery room. Twenty percent in Group-II developed hypoxaemia during transfer from operation theatre to recovery room out of which 24% developed mild (SaO2 86-90%), 2.66% moderate (SaO2 85-81%), and 1.33% extreme (SaO2 <76%) hypoxaemia. None of the patients in Group - I, who received oxygen supplementation, developed hypoxaemia in the early postoperative period.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Burdwan Medical College, Burdwan, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Abhijan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maity
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia, Burdwan Medical College, Burdwan, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Debasish
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Saha
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Bankura Sammilani Madical College, Bankura, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Sarbari
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Swaika
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Burdwan Medical College, Burdwan, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Sumanta Ghosh
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Maulik
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Burdwan Medical College, Burdwan, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Brojen
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Choudhury
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Burdwan Medical College, Burdwan, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Manotosh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sutradhar
keywords: Hypoxaemia; postoperative; pulse oximeter