Improving surgical safety globally: pulse oximetry and the WHO Guidelines for Safe Surgery

Improving surgical safety globally: pulse oximetry and the WHO Guidelines for Safe Surgery.

Access to safe surgery should be considered as part of the basic human right for health, but unfortunately, this ideal is far from being reached in many low-income countries. Pulse oximetry is recommended as a minimum standard of monitoring by all anesthesia organizations that have set standards, yet around 78,000 operating theaters worldwide lack this essential monitor. The WHO Safe Surgery Sa...

Extending the WHO 'Safe Surgery Saves Lives' project through Global Oximetry.

Routine pulse oximetry during methacholine challenges is unnecessary for safety.

BACKGROUND Methacholine-induced bronchoconstriction is associated with significant hypoxemia, which can be assessed noninvasively by transcutaneous oxygen tension and pulse oximetry. OBJECTIVES To assess the value of the monitoring of finger pulse oximetry during routine methacholine challenges in a clinical pulmonary function laboratory with regard to both safety and the possibility that a s...

Cerebral oximetry: a replacement for pulse oximetry?

Cerebral oximetry has been around for some 3 decades but has had a somewhat checkered history regarding application and reliability. More recently several monitors have been approved in the United States and elsewhere and the technique is emerging as a useful tool for assessing not only adequate cerebral oxygenation but also tissue oxygenation and perfusion in other organs.

The WHO Surgical Safety Checklist.