Pulse oximeters breathe life into surgery in poorer nations.

摘要

With worldwide demand for surgery reaching an all time high, so attention has focused on outcomes of surgical procedures. Among the many things taken for granted in the operating theatre in high-income countries is the availability of good quality pulse oximeters-devices that monitor the level of oxygenation in a patient's blood and alert the physician if oxygen concentrations drop below safe levels, allowing rapid intervention. The devices are essential in any setting in which a patient's blood oxygenation is unstable, including routine operations, emergency and intensive care, and also hospital wards. Unsurprisingly, low-income and middle-income countries have little or no access to such devices, and poor or non-existent training for the often low-quality devices they do have.