The role of capnography in endoscopy patients undergoing nurse-administered propofol sedation: a randomized study.

OBJECTIVE. Standard benzodiazepine/opioid cocktail has proven inferior to propofol sedation during complicated endoscopic procedures and in low-tolerance patients. Propofol is a short-acting hypnotic with a potential risk of respiratory depression at levels of moderate to deep sedation. The existing literature on capnography for endoscopy patients sedated with nurse-administered propofol sedation (NAPS) is limited. Can the addition of capnography to standard monitoring during endoscopy with NAPS reduce the number, duration, and level of hypoxia. MATERIALS AND METHODS. This study was a randomized controlled trial with an intervention group (capnography) and a control group (without capnography). Eligible subjects were consecutive patients for endoscopy at Gentofte Hospital compliant with the criteria of NAPS. RESULTS. Five hundred and forty patients, 263 with capnography and 277 without capnography, were included in the analysis. The number and total duration of hypoxia was reduced by 39.3% and 21.1% in the intervention group compared to the control group (p > 0.05). No differences in actions taken against insufficient respiration were found. Changes in end-tidal carbon dioxide (R = 0.177, p-value < 0.001) and respiratory rate (R = 0.092, p-value < 0.001) were correlated to oxygen saturation (SpO2) up to 36 s prior to changes in SpO2. CONCLUSIONS. Capnography seems to reduce the number and duration of hypoxia in NAPS patients (p > 0.05). Capnography is able to detect insufficient respiration that may lead to hypoxia prior to changes in pulse oximetry. However, due to a limited clinical benefit and additional costs associated with capnography, we do not find capnography necessary during the use of NAPS.

Using continuous quantitative capnography for emergency department procedural sedation: a systematic review and cost-effectiveness analysis.

End-tidal CO2 has been advocated to improve safety of emergency department (ED) procedural sedation by decreasing hypoxia and catastrophic outcomes. This study aimed to estimate the cost-effectiveness of routine use of continuous waveform quantitative end-tidal CO2 monitoring for ED procedural sedation in prevention of catastrophic events. Markov modeling was used to perform cost-effectiveness analysis to estimate societal costs per prevented catastrophic event (death or hypoxic brain injury) during routine ED procedural sedation. Estimates for efficacy of capnography and safety of sedation were derived from the literature. This model was then applied to all procedural sedations performed in US EDs with assumptions selected to maximize efficacy and minimize cost of implementation. Assuming that capnography decreases the catastrophic adverse event rate by 40.7% (proportional to efficacy in preventing hypoxia), routine use of capnography would decrease the 5-year estimated catastrophic event rate in all US EDs from 15.5 events to 9.2 events (difference 6.3 prevented events per 5 years). Over a 5-year period, implementing routine end-tidal CO2 monitoring would cost an estimated $2,830,326 per prevented catastrophic event, which translates into $114,007 per quality-adjusted life-year. Sensitivity analyses suggest that reasonable assumptions continue to estimate high costs of prevented catastrophic events. Continuous waveform quantitative end-tidal CO2 monitoring is a very costly strategy to prevent catastrophic complications of procedural sedation when applied routinely in ED procedural sedations.

Testing nasogastric tube positioning in the critically ill: exploring the evidence.

Nutritional support in the critically ill is commonly delivered via a nasogastric tube. Correct positioning in the stomach must first be confirmed as inadvertent feeding into the lungs carries a high risk of mortality. The National Patient Safety Agency (2005) recommends the method of pH testing nasogastric tube aspirates to verify tube position. This article critically analyses the research supporting this method, and questions its reliability in critically ill patients whose gastric pH may well be altered due to prophylactic stress ulcer medications and continuous feeding regimens. There is a lack of quality research testing this method in the critically ill population. The theory-practice gap is addressed, and preliminary research behind use of techniques such as capnography and capnometry is also examined.

End-tidal carbon dioxide monitoring: a VITAL sign worth watching.

Capnography is the monitoring of end-tidal carbon dioxide in waveform and numeric display. For this technology to be useful, the critical care nurse must have a clear understanding of the normal capnography waveform and what the alterations in this waveform represent. The critical care nurse can use this information to plan patient care interventions with other critical care team members and to adjust care based on the patient's response. End-tidal carbon dioxide physiology, normal waveforms, abnormal waveforms, and clinical aspects of capnography monitoring are included.

Monitoring carbon dioxide in critical care: the newest vital sign?

Carbon dioxide (CO(2)) monitoring can yield substantial information about cardiac and pulmonary function. Because capnography is not complicated, it is relatively easy to apply in a wide variety of clinical settings. A new area of CO(2) measurement is sublingual CO(2). Although outcomes data are as yet unavailable for this technology, its ease of use makes it an attractive monitoring tool to assess severity of illness and predict patients' responses to therapy. This article describes the pathophysiology and clinical applications of the technologies and describes why they may well be "the newest vital signs."

Capnography. A key underutilized technology.

Based on the multiple applications and the potential cost savings, every ICU should have enough capnography for all intubations and probably for all mechanically ventilated patients. Of the multiple clinical applications of capnography, most attention should be focused on its use with intubation and resuscitation. Other applications, such as blood gas and ventilation-perfusion scan reduction, should be instituted after the primary areas have been implemented. While capnography modules may appear to be expensive at first glance, an analysis of their clinical application reveals they can save the hospital hundreds of thousands of dollars beyond the purchase price.

Interpretation of capnography.

The anesthetist will get the most information out of a capnograph if it is examined systematically. First, the anesthetist must determine whether exhaled CO2 (i.e., a waveform) is present. The differential diagnosis of absent CO2 includes esophageal intubation, accidental tracheal extubation, disconnection of the breathing circuit, complete obstruction of the endotracheal tube or conducting system (kink, inspissated blood or secretions, extremely severe bronchospasm) or of the breathing circuit, apnea, and cardiac arrest. Second, the shape of the waveform must be analyzed systematically by looking at, and in sequence, phase I (inspiratory baseline, which should be zero); phase II (expiratory upstroke, which should be nearly perpendicular to the inspiratory baseline); phase III (expiratory or alveolar plateau, which should be a straight, nearly horizontal, line); and phase IV (inspiratory downstroke, which should be nearly perpendicular to the inspiratory baseline). This discussion will follow this systematic approach but will emphasize diagnosis that can be obtained from the phase III alveolar plateau.

Dispelling myths of capnography.

The monitoring of end-tidal carbon dioxide (ETCO2) is not a new practice, having been introduced to the United states in 1978. It is a modality where clinical application in critical care environments has been sporadic and plagued by the initial inadequacies of the technology. The critical care educator, manager, or advanced practice nurse can assist in identifying myths in practice and educate colleagues on the principles and application of capnography.

End-tidal carbon dioxide monitoring for weaning patients: a pilot study.

This research pilot study evaluates the usefulness of capnography for patients being weaned from mechanical ventilation in a medical intensive care unit (MICU). The hypothesis that capnography would allow for more rapid weaning from mechanical ventilation, and require fewer arterial blood gases (ABGs) during the process, was found to be untrue. Several implications for critical care nursing practices were derived from the literature review and findings of this study.

Procedural sedation. Capnography's heightened role.

Outside the OR, it has become increasingly common for nurses to administer procedural sedation. Now, with capnography, you can monitor patients' respiratory status more closely and accurately.

Keep your patient safe during PCA.

Go beyond the push-button approach to patient-controlled analgesia and learn what it takes to keep him both safe and pain-free.

Capnography in the gastroenterology lab.

This article provides the reader with information and education regarding the use of capnography for both adult and pediatric patients undergoing procedural sedation during endoscopy by: reviewing the basics of capnography, in addition to the physiology of ventilation and oxygenation; illustrating how capnography may provide an earlier warning of hypoxemia than does pulse oximetry; briefly discussing current guidelines for procedural sedation and the potential role of capnography; and reviewing clinical situations causing changes in the capnogram waveforms and the nursing interventions that should be made in response to such changes.

Sondaje naso/orogástrico en el paciente pediátrico. Revisión de métodos de comprobación de la ubicación / Naso-orogastric tube in paediatric patients. Review of methods of confirmation of placement

La colocación de la sonda gástrica (SG) es un procedimiento no infrecuente en la población pediátrica. Las SG se utilizan con asiduidad en los servicios de Hospitalización, de Urgencias Pediátricas y en los de Cuidados Críticos. Sus objetivos son diagnósticos, terapéuticos y la descompresión y evacuación del contenido aspirado. La colocación a ciegas de la SG conlleva tasas de colocación incorrecta de entre un 4.7 % y un 69 % de los casos. Se necesita por lo tanto la utilización de un método fiable de determinación de la colocación de la misma. La radiografía (Rx) de tórax es el único método fiable al cien por cien (gold standard), pero solo confirma la colocación en el momento exacto de realización de la Rx. Los métodos no radiológicos son una alternativa fiable que contribuyen a reducir la exposición a radiaciones en los pacientes pediátricos. Hay diversos métodos alternativos a la Rx para verificar la colocación apropiada de la SG y que están respaldados por distintos grados de evidencia científica. Algunos son: medida de la sonda desde el punto de entrada; auscultación, aspiración del contenido estomacal o intestinal para inspeccionarlo visualmente; medición del pH; capnografía, o la combinación de varios de estos métodos. En este artículo se revisa a fondo la validez y la seguridad de algunos de estos métodos no radiológicos como métodos de comprobación de la ubicación de la SG (AU)

Nasogastric tube (NGT) placement is a frequent procedure in the paediatric population. Nasogastric and orogastric tubes are commonly used in hospitalized children, in the paediatric emergency departments and in critical care departments. They have diagnostic, therapeutic, descompression or evacuation of gastric aspirates objectives. Making a blind placement of nasogastric tubes, involve that nasogastric tube could be misplaced in 4.7 % to 69 % of cases. An accurate method for confirmation of nasogastric tube positioning is therefore needed. Chest X-ray remains the only hundred per cent reliable method (gold standard), but it only confirms tube positioning at the exact time of the X-ray. Non-radiologic verification methods provide an accurate alternative and contribute to decrease radiation exposure for pediatric patients. Non-radiologic methods to verify appropiate placement of tubes are many and are supported by different degrees of evidence in the literature: measurement of tube length from point of entry; auscultation; placing the tube in water to assess bubbling; aspiration of stomach or intestinal contents for visual inspection; pH testing; use of CO2 monitoring devices, or combinations of these methods. In this article we thoroughly review the reliability and safety of these non radiologic methods for the verification of nasogastric tube placement (AU)

Technology utilization in the cardiac surgical patient: SvO2 and capnography monitoring.

Technology utilization in the cardiac surgical patient has proliferated, despite a lack of evidence that the technology has a positive impact on patient outcomes. Hospitals are left to their own efforts in deciding how and what technology to use. The result is an inconsistent use of technology. The use of structured guidelines can help hospitals improve the use of technology. Two controversial technologies, capnography and mixed venous oxygen saturation monitoring, are analyzed using this approach. It is essential for hospitals to support clinicians as they use methods in the evaluation and implementation of technology. Technology alone will not improve patient outcome or control costs.

Capnography application in acute and critical care.

The use of capnography has expanded over recent years. Currently, capnography is used in a variety of acute care settings. This article describes what capnography is and how it is used. The normal and abnormal capnogram or waveforms are described to assist in identifying various clinical situations. The multiplicity of clinical indications include detection of pulmonary embolism as well as malpositioned endotracheal/tracheal, gastric, and small bowel tubes. Capnography also provides clinicians with information regarding expiratory breathing patterns and assists in perfusion assessments such as those for cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Finally, case studies are provided to help the reader apply the concepts of capnography to a variety of acute care settings.