Evaluation of factors affecting relationship between transcutaneous PO2 and probe temperature

Several studies on transcutaneous O2 probes have shown that the transcutaneous PO2 increases to approximately 80% of the arterial PO2 when the probe is heated to 44 degrees C. It is not known whether this result reflects near-complete thermic arterialization or rather other factors such as the temperature-linked right shift of the hemoglobin O2-binding curve. In many clinical applications of transcutaneous probes the use of 44 degrees C is a major disadvantage because of the risk of skin burns. The development of new probes operating at lower temperatures is hampered by the lack of data on the temperature dependence of the factors influencing the relationship between the transcutaneous PO2 and the probe temperature. The present study attempts to estimate the temperature dependence of 1) the degree of arterialization of the blood in the skin capillaries, 2) the PO2 difference across the epidermis caused by the diffusion gradient and the epidermal O2 consumption, and 3) the arteriovenous saturation difference over the skin capillaries. The estimation is based on simultaneously measured transcutaneous PO2, PCO2, and argon partial pressure (PAr) values at seven different probe temperatures. The transcutaneous PCO2 is assumed equal to the mean capillary PCO2, which is used to calculate the mean capillary PO2 by the aid of a skin model. The O2 diffusion gradient is estimated from the transcutaneous PAr, and the PO2 difference caused by the epidermal O2 consumption is set equal to the difference between the mean capillary and transcutaneous PO2 less the partial pressure difference caused by the diffusion gradient. The degree of arterialization was found to be 53% at 38 degrees C and 65% at 44 degrees C. The partial pressure difference caused by the epidermal O2 consumption decreased from 33 Torr at 38 degrees C to 6 Torr at 44 degrees C. The PO2 difference across the epidermis caused by the diffusion gradient was 7 Torr at 38 degrees C and 5 Torr at 44 degrees C. The arteriovenous saturation difference fell from 31% at 38 degrees C to 12% at 44 degrees C.