New Tool for Predicting Respiratory Adverse Events in the PACU

San Diego—Patients in the PACU with a high risk for respiratory adverse events (RAEs) should be monitored for both noninvasive end-tidal carbon dioxide (CO₂) and pulse oximetry using the Integrated Pulmonary Index (IPI), a new study suggests.

 

RAEs can lead to increased duration in the PACU and greater medical costs, or a transfer to the ICU due to airway narrowing, hypoxemia, wheezing and apnea, according to study author Hiroshi Morimatsu, MD, PhD, director, Anesthesiology and