Please see Bibliography of References for a list of abstracts, manuscripts and posters.

Other Studies

Correlates of thenar near-infrared spectroscopy-derived tissue O2 saturation after cardiac surgery

Uikema RJ, Groeneveld AB. Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg. 2007;6(3):265-269.

We studied the significance of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), for measuring tissue oxygenation (StO₂) and perfusion adequacy, and thus for haemodynamic monitoring of patients after cardiac surgery. We compared NIRS-derived StO₂ of the thenar muscle to haemodynamic variables, oxygenation indices, temperature, lactate levels and urinary output, in 23 patients in the course of time after cardiac surgery and admission into the intensive care unit. Clinical variables, global haemodynamics and NIRS% total haemoglobin (%HT) and StO₂ in the thenar for up to 18–22 h after admission were measured. The StO₂ declined concomitantly with a rise in the body-finger temperature difference. Cardiac output did not change but mean arterial pressure rose, concomitantly with tapering doses of nitroglycerine, indicative of an increase in vascular tone during recovery from surgery. From all variables, changes in body-finger temperature difference best correlated to changes in StO₂ (r_s=-0.48, P<0.001). As judged from clinical and haemodynamic correlates, thenar NIRS StO₂ is a non-invasive measure of peripheral rather than global perfusion adequacy, after cardiac surgery. This may help to define the role of thenar NIRS monitoring after cardiac surgery in future studies.