Comparison of Teflon and polypropylene membranes for transcutaneous oxygen monitoring during anesthesia

Performance of 2 electrodes used for transcutaneous oxygen monitoring, one covered with polypropylene and the other covered by fluorinated ethylene propylene Teflon, was compared in 11 patients during anesthesia. Both electrodes showed good correlation between transcutaneous (PtcO2) and arterial oxygen (PaO2) tension with a correlation coefficient of 0.96 with polypropylene and 0.88 with Teflon electrode. Although the ratio of transcutaneous to arterial tension varied from patient to patient, it was found to be fairly constant in any 1 patient and was not significantly affected by blood carbon dioxide tension.