VALIDATION OF THE EDSLAB DUAL LUMEN OXIMETRY CATHETER FOR CONTINUOUS MONITORING OF JUGULAR BULB OXYGEN-SATURATION AFTER SEVERE HEAD-INJURY

Continuous jugular bulb venous oximetry has been validated previously for periods of up to 12 h after calibration. We assessed a new Edslab venous oximetry catheter in 15 patients with brain injury in the inten sive care unit. After insertion into the jugular bulb, the catheter wa s calibrated using a laboratory co-oximeter. Subsequent comparisons we re made at varying intervals (range 20 min to 100 h); 78 paired sample s were obtained during periods of stable recordings. Estimation of hae moglobin saturation by the methods correlated well (r(2) = 0.97, P < 0 .0001). Mean difference(d) was small (0.28% (SD 2.35%)) and limits of agreement (d+/-(SD x 1.96)) were acceptable (-4.88% to 4.32%). There w as no appreciable drift and there was negligible bias. This catheter d id not suffer from problems of light intensity described with other sy stems, and it provided acceptable accuracy for clinical use for period s of up to and exceeding 24 h after calibration.