THE EFFECT OF SUBCUTANEOUS EDEMA ON TRANSCUTANEOUS OXIMETRY

A rabbit animal model of tissue edema was created to determine its eff ect on transcutaneous oximetry (T-com). Measurements of T-coms were pe rformed before and at 5-minute intervals after the injection of body t emperature saline into the skin and subcutaneous tissues of 5 rabbits. Photomicrographs were obtained to document the morphological appearan ce of edema. The injection of saline had no effect on relative T-com v alues. This investigation suggests that edema alone does not influence T-com measurements.