The pulse oximeter continuously and non-invasively measures arterial saturation. The objective of the current study was to assess the value of this monitor during thoracic surgery with one-lung ventilation. A total of 108 pulse oximeter saturation readings (SaO2[O]) were compared with PaO2 and calculated saturation (SaO2[C]) values. Hypoxia (PaO2 less than 70 mmHg) always resulted in a SaO2 (O) value below 95%. For the detection of hypoxia, the pulse oximeter had a sensitivity of 100%, a specificity of 91% and a predictability of 70%. The correlation between SaO2(C) and SaO2(O) was good (r = 0.895). In the samples with a PaO2 below 100 mmHg the correlation between SaO2(C) and SaO2(O) was significantly better when the temperature was at least 36 degrees C (r = 0.956 vs. r = 0.706; p less than 0.005) or when the cardiac index was greater than 2.5 l/min/m2 (r = 0.896 vs r = 0.417; p less than 0.01).
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.