INTRAOPERATIVE REFLECTANCE OXIMETRY IN BURN PATIENTS

Objective. Transmission oximetry sites for intraoperative monitoring a re frequently difficult to find in burn patients, as standard transmis sion oximetry sites are often burned or contained within the operative field. The objective of this study was to determine if reflectance ox imetry is of potential value in monitoring this group of patients. Met hods. A total of 16 operative procedures in a group of acutely burned adult and pediatric patients with an average age of 9.7 years (range, 10 months to 37 years), average burn size of 42% of the body surface ( range, 15% to 94%), and average weight of 34.2. kg (range, 9 to 100 kg ) were done with simultaneous transmission and reflectance oximetry mo nitoring. Results. During these 16 procedures in a diverse group of ac utely burned adult and pediatric patients, there was no significant di fference in saturations derived from transmission and reflectance oxim etry probes. In smaller children, adequate signal for reflectance prob e monitoring was often detected in hyperemic sites, such as healed par tial thickness burn. Conclusions. This is the first published report d ocumenting both the clinical use of the reflectance oximetry in burn p atients and the clinical use of the Nellcor Oxisensor II RS-10 reflect ance oximetry probe (Nellcor Corporation, Hayward, CA). This technique can facilitate the intraoperative monitoring of acutely burned adult and pediatric patients in whom standard transmission oximetry sites ar e difficult to find.