Analysis of the difference in pulse oxygen saturation between the ventral and dorsal fingers

This study aimed to investigate the effect of different probe placements on the ventral and dorsal sides of the same finger using pulse oxygen saturation monitoring.

This clinical trial used a convenience sampling method in patients admitted to the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University. We enrolled 1330 patients from March to July 2018, including patients who were hospitalized in the intensive care unit (n = 258) and in the general ward (n = 1072). Pulse oxygen saturation measurements obtained from the ventral and dorsal sides of the same finger were compared. This work adhered to the STROBE checklist requirements.

We found that pulse oxygen saturation measurements between the dorsal and ventral sides of a finger were not affected by different fingers, disease types, the application of a ventilator, vasoactive drugs, the conscious state of the patient or the instrument model.

Our findings suggested no significant difference in saturation measurements with variation in the placement of the pulse oxygen saturation measurement instrument between the dorsal and ventral sides of a finger, regardless of illness severity. We believe that these results could simplify the monitoring procedures performed by nurses and eliminate worries concerning the inaccuracy of data because of varied probe positions.