Continuous SPO2 Monitoring System Equipment, Clinical Studies

Postoperative patients receiving analgesia in lower acuity settings, such as the ward, suffer frequent and prolonged episodes of hypoxemia.([FOOTNOTE=Overdyk, F. J., Carter, R., Maddox, R. R., Callura, J., Herrin, A. E., & Henriquez, C. Continuous oximetry/capnometry monitoring reveals frequent desaturation and bradypnea during patient-controlled analgesia. Anesth Analg. 2007;105(2):412-418.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=]) Without continuous monitoring of oxygen saturation, these episodes of hypoxia often go undetected, which may place patients at-risk for adverse events. ([FOOTNOTE=Lee, L. A., Caplan, R. A., Stephens, L. S., et al. Postoperative opioid-induced respiratory depression: a closed claims analysis. Anesthesiology. 2015;122(3):659-665.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=])^-([FOOTNOTE=Sun, Z., Sessler, D. I., Dalton, J. E., et al. Postoperative Hypoxemia Is Common and Persistent: A Prospective Blinded Observational Study. Anesth Analg. 2015;121(3):709-715.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=])

Sun et al. performed a multicenter prospective analysis of 833 non-cardiac postoperative patients receiving continuous monitoring with pulse oximetry that was blinded to clinicians in order to determine the rate of undetected hypoxemia.³ The authors concluded that postoperative patients suffer frequent and prolonged hypoxia, which typically goes undetected by nurse-recorded intermittent SpO₂.