OXIMETRY FOR AMNIOTIC-FLUID EMBOLISM DETECTION IN MINIPIGS - TAIL OR SNOUT

The continuous, non-invasive real-time monitoring of arterial oxygenat ion (pulse oximetry) has become a standard of care in both human and v eterinary medicine. It allows reliable, simple and inexpensive assessm ent of the arterial oxygenation status. In pigs, commonly used sites f or oximetry-probe placement are the ear, snout or tongue, while more r ecently the 'pig-tail oximetry' has been suggested. In a study regardi ng the coagulation system during amniotic fluid embolism (AFE) in mini pigs, we compared tail and snout for oximetry-probe placement and comp ared them with the 'gold standard': blood-gas analysis (EGA). In both the AFE group and the control group, the tail measurements were slight ly lower and the snout measurements were slightly higher than the EGA results. In the experimental model used, both tail and snout measureme nts were able to detect a temporary desaturation immediately after amn iotic fluid embolism (AFE). Blood-gas analysis (BGA) performed on bloo d drawn from a large artery missed the event. Clinically, there is no significant difference between snout and tail as oximetry-probe placem ent sites: both are reliable oximetry sites in mini-pigs.