Pulse Oximetry

Pulse oximetry is a simple, relatively cheap and non-invasive technique to monitor oxygenation. It monitors the percentage of haemoglobin that is oxygen saturated. Oxygen saturation should always be above 95% although in those with long standing respiratory disease or cyanotic congenital heart disease, it may be lower, corresponding to disease severity. The oxyhaemaglobin dissociation curve becomes sharply steep below about 90%,¹ reflecting the more rapid desaturation that occurs with diminishing oxygen tension (PaO₂). On most machines the default low oxygen saturation alarm setting is 90%.

Pulse oximetry does not provide information on the oxygen content of the blood nor ventilation and thus care is needed in the presence of anaemia and in patients developing respiratory failure due to carbon dioxide retention, for example.

Oximeters work by the principles of spectrophotometry: the relative absorption of red (absorbed by oxgenated blood) and infrared (absorbed by deoxygenated blood) light of the systolic component of the absorption waveform correlate to arterial blood oxygen saturations. Measurements of relative light absorption are made 600 times every second and these are processed by the machine to give a new reading every 0.5-1 second that averages out the reading over the last 3 seconds.

Two light-emitting diodes, red and infrared, are positioned so that they are opposite their respective detectors through 5-10 mm of tissue. Probes are usually positioned on the fingertip, although earlobes and forehead are sometimes used as alternatives. One study has suggested that the ear lobe is not a reliable site to measure oxygen saturations². Probes tend to use 'wrap' or 'clip' style sensors.

Central cyanosis, the traditional clinical sign of hypoxaemia, is an insensitive marker occurring only at 75-80% saturation. Consequently pulse oximetry has a wide range of applications including:

• Individual pulse oximetry readings can be invaluable in clinical situations where hypoxaemia may be a factor, for example, in a confused elderly person.
• Continuous recording can be used during anaeshesia or sedation, or to assess hypoxaemia during sleep studies to diagnose obstructive sleep apnoea . Perioperative monitoring has not, however, been shown to improve surgical outcomes³.
• Pulse oximetry can replace blood gas analysis in many clinical situations unless PaCO₂ or acid-base state is needed. It is cheaper, easier to perform, less painful and more accurate where the patient is conscious (hyperventilation at the prospect of pain raises PaO₂).
• Pulse oximetry allows accurate use of O₂ and avoids wastage. For example in patients with respiratory failure, rather than limit the use of O₂ to maintain hypoxic ventilatory drive, it can be adjusted to a saturation of ~90% which is clinically acceptable.
• Neonatal care - the safety limits for oxygen saturations are higher and narrower (95-97%) compared to in adults.⁴ Pulse oximetry is advocated as one element of screening for congenital heart disease in neonates.⁵

Pulse oximeters are now used routinely in critical care, anaesthesiology, A & E departments and are often found in ambulances. They can make a useful addition to the GP's bag. Pulse oximetry's role in primary care may include:

• Diagnosing and managing a severe exacerbation of COPD in the community.⁶
• Grading the severity of an asthma attack. Where oxygen saturations are less than 92% in air, consider the attack potentially life-threatening.⁷
• Assessing severity and oxygen requirements for patients with community acquired pneumonia.^8,9
• Assessing severity and determining management in infants with bronchiolitis.

• Resting readings should be taken for at least 5 minutes.
• Poor perfusion (due to cold or hypotension) is the main cause of an inadequate pulse wave. A sharp waveform with a dicrotic notch indicates good perfusion whilst a sine wave-like waveform suggests poor perfusion.
• If a finger probe is used, the hand should be rested on the chest at the level of the heart rather than the affixed digit held in the air (as patients commonly do) in order to minimise motion artefact.
• Checking that the displayed heart rate correlates to a manually checked heart rate (within 5 beats/min) generally rules out significant motion artefact.
• Emitters and detectors must oppose one another and light should not reach the detector except through the tissue. Ensure the digit is inserted fully into the probe and that flexible probes are attached correctly.
• Oximeter accuracy should be checked by obtaining at least one silmultaneous blood gas although this rarely happens. Oximeters may correct average oximeter bias based on pooled data but this does not eliminate the possibility of larger individual biases.

• Pulse oximetry cannot differentiate between different forms of haemoglobin. Carboxyhaemoglobin is registered as 90% oxygenated haemoglobin and 10% desaturated haemoglobin, thereby causing an overestimation of true saturation levels.
• Significant venous pulsation such as occurs in tricuspid incompetence and venous congestion.
• Environmental interference: vibration at 0.5-3.5 Hz, excessive movement and perhaps high level of ambient light¹¹, including infrared heat lamps.
• Cold hands - warm extremity if local poor perfusion.
• Nail polish should be removed as it may cause false readings.¹²
• Intravascular dyes, such as methylene blue,[/sub] may also temporarily falsely reduce saturation readings.