Repeated blood gas monitoring in healthy children and adolescents by the transcutaneous route

The aim of the study was to establish transcutaneous oxygen tension (tcPO(2)), carbon dioxide tension (tcPCO(2)), and oxygen saturation (tcSO(2)) values and to investigate the intra- and interindividual variation in these values in healthy children and adolescents. Forty-one healthy children/adolescents (21 girls; mean age, 12.1 years; SD, 3.5; range, 5.0-19.0 years) participated. Continuous recordings of tcPO(2), tcPCO(2), tcSO(2), and heart rate (HR) were made for 30 min on two occasions, with a mean interval of 10.3 days, with the child/adolescent in a sitting position. The respiratory rate (RR) was counted manually during the last 5 min of each recording. The mean values of tcPO(2), tcPCO(2), tcSO(2), HR, and RR during the last 5 min of the recordings were reported. At the first recording, the mean value for tcPO(2) was 10.8 kPa (SD 1.0), for tcPCO(2) 5.1 kPa (0.4), for tcSO(2) 97.4% (1.1), for HR 82.2 min(-1) (9.9), and for RR 19.0 min(-1) (2.8). The coefficient of variation for tcPO(2) was 9.3%, for tcPCO(2) 7.8%, for tcSO(2) 1.1%, for HR 12.0%, and for RR 14.7%. The mean intraindividual variation in tcPO(2) was 0.3 kPa (SD 1.0), tcPCO(2) 0.0 kPa (0.5), tcSO(2) 0.1% (1.3), HR 0.1 min(-1) (7.7), and RR 0.5 min(-1) (2.7). No significant differences were observed in tcPO(2), tcPCO(2), tcSO(2), HR, or RR between the two recordings. In conclusion, the reproducibility of tcPO(2), tcPCO(2), and tcSO(2) monitoring during 30 min in healthy children and adolescents was good. This indicates that transcutaneous blood gas monitoring may be used to document significant changes in blood gas tensions and oxygen saturation over time.