Monitoring of regional tissue oxygenation with near-infrared spectroscopy during the early postoperative course after superior cavopulmonary anastomosis.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) offers continuous non-invasive monitoring of regional tissue oxygenation. We evaluated NIRS monitoring during the postoperative course after superior cavopulmonary anastomosis in patients with hypoplastic left heart syndrome and anatomically related malformations. METHODS: Cerebral (cSO(2)) and somatic (sSO(2)) tissue oxygenations were recorded for 48 h and compared with routine measures of intensive care monitoring. Changes in parameters in the case of postoperative complications were evaluated. RESULTS: Data were obtained from 32 patients. Median age at operation was 2.9 (1.5-10.0) months and weight was 5.3 ± 1.0 kg. Postoperative complications occurred in 7 patients (pulmonary artery thrombus n = 4, pneumothorax n = 1, cardiopulmonary resuscitation n = 1 and low-cardiac output n = 1). cSO(2) was 44 ± 14% at the end of the operation and reached its minimum of 40 ± 11% 2 h later (P = 0.018). Overall, cSO(2) was depressed early after surgery and increased from a mean of 42 ± 11% during the first 4 postoperative hours to 57 ± 8% in the last 4 h of the study period (P < 0.001). The sSO(2) decreased from 77 ± 11% during the early postoperative course to 68 ± 9% within the later course (P < 0.001). The cSO(2) correlated with the arterial partial pressure of oxygen (pO(2), r = 0.364, P < 0.001), with the arterial oxygen saturation (SaO(2), r = 0.547, P < 0.001) and with the central venous oxygen saturation providing the strongest correlation (SvO(2), r = 0.686, P < 0.001). Analysis of agreement between cSO(2) and SvO(2) measurements revealed a mean bias of 0.97 with limits of agreement between 19.8 and -17.9%. Inclusion of both cSO(2) and sSO(2) into a linear regression model slightly improved the prediction of SvO(2) from NIRS values (r = 0.706, P < 0.001). The mean values of cSO(2), sSO(2), SaO(2) and SvO(2) during the early postoperative period were lower in patients with complications (cSO(2) 45 ± 9 vs 29 ± 5%, P < 0.001; sSO(2) 80 ± 11 vs 70 ± 6%, P = 0.004; SaO(2) 76 ± 8 vs 66 ± 6%, P = 0.004; SvO(2) 48 ± 14 vs 32 ± 6%, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: NIRS technology allows inferring the global oxygenation from continuous non-invasive measurements of regional tissue oxygenation. The cSO(2) is lowered in the early postoperative course. Lower cSO(2) values in the early postoperative course may be predictive of postoperative complications.