Early jugular bulb oxygenation monitoring in comatose patients after an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Abstract

To determine the role of early jugular bulb oxygenation monitoring in comatose patients after cardiac arrest. Prospective sequential study. Medical intensive care unit in a university hospital. Thirteen patients comatose after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. A standard hemodynamic protocol. Jugular bulb oxygen saturation levels and oxygen extraction ratios could not discriminate between patients with good (6) and poor (7) cerebral outcome. This was also true for the jugular bulb-arterial lactate difference. Survivors had significantly higher overall oxygen transport values than non-survivors. Jugular bulb oxygenation monitoring during the first few hours after cardiac arrest cannot reliably discriminate between comatose patients with a good and poor cerebral outcome. Further studies with an extended monitoring period are thus required.