Intervention in Surgery to Maintain Oxygen Reduces Strokes

A study has shown that the use of oximeter monitoring and intervention to maintain cerebral oxygen saturation above 40% in cardiac surgery patients significantly decrease the incidence of stroke and coma. The study was conducted by doctors at Weill Medical College of Cornell University (New York, NY, USA).

The researchers used the Invos Cerebral Oximeter patient monitoring system from Somanetics Corp. (Troy, MI, USA). The Invos provides information by transmitting and detecting visible and near-infrared light through SomaSensors, single-use sensors that are placed on both sides of a patient's forehead. Because the sensors are noninvasive, there is no skin penetration or risk of infection. When a patient's brain oxygen saturation levels were determined low in the study, the doctors took steps to increase them to above 40%. The result was a significantly lower incidence of levels under 30% and a lower incidence of stroke and coma than in the control group.

"We demonstrated that interventions to maintain adequate cerebral oxygen saturation significantly decreased stroke and coma,” said Dr. Fun-Sun Yao, professor of anesthesia at Weill Medical College. "Therefore, it is prudent to guide therapy using cerebral oximetry during cardiac surgery.”




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