Somatic tissue oxygenation monitoring

Editor —Heringlake and Maurer1 rightly caution about factors that might affect the interpretation and use of muscle tissue oximetry (SmtO2) compared with the better-studied cerebral oximetry monitoring. Indeed, a recent systematic review of peripheral near-infrared spectrometry (NIRS) monitoring revealed modest associations with central haemodynamics, but highlighted the need for improvement of NIRS technology, methodology, and appropriate metrics.2 In questioning the applicability and variability of SmtO2 measurements for clinical assessment, the authors assert that such measurements represent uncalibrated, off-label use for ‘cerebral oximeter’ probes. Although this might be true of most commercial NIRS devices, the FORE-SIGHT ELITE, (CASMED, Inc., Branford, Connecticut, USA) monitor used in our study3 features an algorithm specifically developed for muscle and validated for large muscle tissue applications using a universal sensor design.4
Source: British Journal of Anaesthesia - Category: Anesthesiology Source Type: research