Monitoring Exhaled Carbon Dioxide

In the past few decades, assessment of exhaled CO2 in both intubated and non-intubated patients has evolved into an essential component in many aspects of patient monitoring. Besides the basic assessment of ventilation, exhaled CO2 monitoring can provide valuable patient safety information and critical physiologic data in regard to the ventilation and perfusion matching in the lungs, cardiac output, and metabolic rate. Despite these important clinical monitoring benefits and widespread availability, exhaled CO2 monitoring is often underutilized. The purpose of this paper is to review the importance and present the extensive body of knowledge to support the use of exhaled CO2 monitoring in various areas of clinical practice. Advanced application concepts and the future development of exhaled CO2 monitoring will also be discussed.