[Transcutaneous oxygen and carbon dioxide measurement in pediatric intensive care patients]

Transcutaneous partial pressures of oxygen (PtcO2) and carbon dioxide (PtcCO2) were measured in 16 haemodynamically stable patients of a paediatric intensive care unit and were compared with simultaneously measured arterial partial pressures (PaO2 and PaCO2). For the transcutaneous measurement a sensor temperature of 44 degrees C was chosen, blood gas analysis was performed on 2 different automatic blood gas analysers. Comparisons of 82 pairs of oxygen and 60 pairs of carbon dioxide partial pressures were made. Our data show a tight linear correlation between cutaneous and arterial partial pressures of oxygen and carbon dioxide, defined by regression equations and correlation coefficients: PtcO2 = 1.22 + 0.8 X PaO2 (r = 0.93) and PtcCO2 = 5.52 + 1.26 X PaCO2 (r = 0.88). We conclude that transcutaneous measurements of oxygen and carbon dioxide partial pressures are reliable noninvasive techniques for monitoring arterial gas tensions in haemodynamically stable paediatric patients.