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Abstract

Capnography is not currently part of standard monitoring in intensive care practice in the UK. In order to investigate how widely capnography is used and reasons for lack of use, we sent a survey to lead clinicians of adult intensive care units. The response rate was 61%; 45% of responding units did not have the facility to monitor carbon dioxide at all funded bedspaces. Approximately 30% of units were covered at least part of the time by doctors who did not have advanced airway skills. Reasons for not using capnography included its lack of correlation with arterial blood gases and the fact that capnography is not 100% sensitive or specific for the diagnosis of airway misplacement. Capnography should be used during intubation to confirm airway placement in the intensive care unit.

Keywords

capnography capnometry intensive care

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Survey of the Use of Capnography in UK Intensive Care Units

Abstract

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References