Hi all
hope you are bearing up in these difficult times.
At Royal London we have had a new issue occur with Spo2 readings being 10% higher than those from a blood gas sample.This obviously gives the nurses a false confidence that the patients spo2 is higher than it really is.
This only appears to be happening on dark skinned patients on one particular ward. The readings have been compared to other stand alone Spo2 monitors.
The ward in question also happens to be the ward where we have been using the new Mindray N15 monitors for the longest period. My questions are:
Has anyone else seen this issue, and if so what was the solution?
Can Spo2 sensor LED's gradually wear out over time with continuous use?

We are trying some other new probes to see if that makes any difference, but any suggestions will certainly be considered.

Thanks

Richard
Lead Technologist Royal London ACCU

Richard Aldridge
Lead Technologist
Adult Critical care unit
Royal London Hospital
Whitechapel Road
London E1 1BB
Tel 0203 59 40302