Transcutaneous oxygen measurement: experimental studies and adult applications.

Transcutaneous PO2 sensors have been developed over the past ten years from the same basic electrodes used in conventional blood-gas machines. The skin is heated to enable the skin surface sensors to respond quickly to the gas tensions beneath them. PtcO2 is a variable that reflects the PO2 in the peripheral tissue. PtcO2 has its own range of normal values, and it responds to cardiopulmonary changes that affect tissue oxygenation. In most patients, those without decreased cardiac output, PtcO2 follows the trend of PaO2 and decreases relative to PaO2 with increasing patient age (see Table 2). In the presence of severely reduced cardiac output and peripheral perfusion, the PtcO2 values will deviate from their relationship with the arterial tensions and become blood flow dependent, thus providing quantitative information regarding blood flow. The technique of PtcO2 monitoring likely will gain wider acceptance because it is a noninvasive and continuous monitor that provides useful information regarding tissue oxygenation.