1. Pulse oximeter tracings from a 60-year-old woman with exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who was admitted to the intensive care unit in ventilatory failure. A. The patient’s pulse oximetry tracing at the time of admission reveals respiratory variability in the pulse oximeter plethysmography tracing. Measured pulsus paradoxus at this time was 16 mm Hg. B. The patient’s pulse oximetry tracing after 12 hours of aggressive therapy. Pulsus paradoxus at this time was 8 mm Hg. Note the absence of respiratory waveform variation (RWV) in the baseline of the oximeter tracing after clinical improvement in airflow and resolution of elevated pulsus paradoxus. [Reproduced with permission from Hartert TV, Wheeler AP, Sheller JR. Use of pulse oximetry to recognize severity of airflow obstruction in obstructive airway disease: correlation with pulsus paradoxus. Chest Feb;115(2): ]
Source: Monitoring the Anesthesia Patient, Anesthesiology, 3e
Citation: Longnecker DE, Mackey SC, Newman MF, Sandberg WS, Zapol WM. Anesthesiology, 3e; 2017 Available at: Accessed: November 07, 2017
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved