The Oxygen Reserve Index as a determinant of the necessary amount of postoperative supplemental oxygen.

BACKGROUND: Although blood gas analysis (BGA) is important for supplemental oxygen titration, it is invasive, intermittent, costly, and burdensome for staff. We assessed whether the Oxygen Reserve Index (ORi™), a novel pulse oximeter-based index that reflects the partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2), could determine the amount of postoperative supplemental oxygen. We also evaluated the extent of hyperoxia and hypoxia. METHODS: Fifty patients scheduled to undergo breast surgery were randomly assigned to receive ORi-based oxygen (group O) or conventional postoperative oxygen (group C) treatments. Postoperatively, patients were transported to the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) and then to general wards. In group O, oxygen was administered at 4 L·min-1 in the operation room after extubation and was decreased if the ORi was >0.00 until a continuous index of 0.00 was achieved for 30 min in the PACU and wards. In group C, oxygen was administered at 4 L·min-1 throughout the evaluation period. BGA was performed 1 h after anesthesia induction (T0), after extubation (T1), before PACU exit (T2), and on the first postoperative morning (T3). Percutaneous oxygen saturation was measured every two seconds from 9 PM after surgery to 6 AM the next morning. RESULTS: The supplemental oxygen amount and PaO2 were significantly lower in group O than group C at T2 (1.5 [0.5-3.0] vs. 4.0 [4.0-4.0] L/min, 117.3 [26.8] vs. 170.0 [42.8] mmHg) and T3 (1.0 [0.5-3.0] vs. 4.0 [4.0-4.0] L/min, 107.5 [16.5] vs. 157.1 [28.4] mmHg; median [interquartile ranges] and mean [1 SD]; P<0.01). No patient exhibited hypoxia. CONCLUSIONS: Based on our results, ORi might be useful to titrate postoperative oxygen supplementation.