Use of conjunctival oxygen monitoring in cardiac patients in the emergency unit.

Conjunctival oxygen monitoring (PcjO2) measures conjunctival tissue organ. It has proved useful in helping to evaluate hypovolemic multiple trauma patients, carotid artery surgery patients, as well as others. Little has been written about its use during medical resuscitations. This report reviews its accident and emergency department use in 13 cardiac arrest/life-threatening cardiac dysrhythmia patients. Nine patients expired and four patients survived. Accident and emergency department PcjO2 values in the group which expired averaged 6.3. Those patients who survived averaged 35.4. Subjects who maintained PcjO2 values below 20 did not survive. Furthermore, PcjO2 values taken within the first 8 min of accident and emergency department resuscitation appear to indicate outcome. Conjunctival oxygen monitoring may be useful in monitoring critically ill cardiac patients in the accident and emergency department.