Supplemental oxygen has been shown to decrease the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting. Hypoxemia can be an important factor, and oxygen therapy very beneficial. Delirium, which is troublesome in itself, can lead patients to remove nasogastric tubes, surgical drains and intra-vascular devices. How should SPO2 readings be interpreted Your SpO2 is considered to be normal when it is above 95. It is also used to determine which patients might be suffering from hypoxia and should take additional tests. Decreased cognitive function with moderate levels of hypoxemia has also been demonstrated. Pulse oximetry is a method doctors use for rapid assessment and monitoring of a patient’s respiratory function. Hypoxemia has been shown to be deleterious in terms of resistance to infection, wound healing and anastomotic integrity. However, it is perhaps less readily appreciated that mild to moderate hypoxemia can also contribute to postoperative morbidity, and in combination with other factors, to increased likelihood of mortality as a result of wide ranging pathophysiological disturbances. You should aim to have a saturation reading above 88.

It is widely appreciated that extreme hypoxemia can produce severe and permanent brain injury and/or cardiac arrest. A normal blood oxygen saturation, at sea level, is about 95 or higher. The later onset gas exchange problems are due to alterations in functional residual capacity (FRC) and factors that affect the patient's ability to inspire deeply or cause the patient to be immobilised in bed. Also, ‘diffusion hypoxia’ may transiently contribute to early hypoxemia as a result of the very soluble nitrous oxide diffusing out of the circulation into the alveoli when anesthesia is terminated, reducing the concentration of oxygen in the alveolar gas. Early postoperative hypoxemia is due to anesthetic factors such as alveolar hypoventilation (above), ventilation/perfusion mismatching, decreased cardiac output, and increased oxygen consumption due to shivering (induced by volatile agents or recovery from intra-operative hypothermia).

Gas exchange abnormalities in the post-operative period occur early or late.

Why spo2 is importnt