A comparison of the tissue oxygenation achieved using different oxygen delivery devices and flow rates

Consistent with the Committee on Publication Ethics guidelines, we the above authors are initiating a partial retraction of our paper: Blake DF, Naidoo P, Brown LH, Young DA, Lippmann J: A comparison of the tissue oxygenation achieved using different oxygen delivery devices and flow rates. Diving Hyperb Med. 2015;45:79-83. We wish to make the following statement: "The authors voluntarily retract aspects of this article after discovering a critical error associated with the instrumentation used in the study, namely the fitting of incorrect sensor membranes on the electrodes of the transcutaneous oximetry device used in the study. This resulted in transcutaneous oxygen tension (PtcO₂) measurements that were consistently lower than those that would be recorded with the correct electrode membranes in place. This measurement error was consistent across all arms of the study. This non-differential information error would have created a bias toward the null hypothesis. Therefore, whilst the absolute values for the data were incorrect, the direction and implications of the significant associations reported in this study are unchanged."