Our ability to assess the oxygenation status in critical care with a high degree of accuracy has improved as a result of recent developments in optical technology. The determination of the oxygenation status, however, remains a complex issue due to its multifaceted nature. This review discusses the definitions,...

Postoperative monitoring in critical care patients has become a widening field over the past few decades. Improvements in outcome can be related to advances in this field as well as in intraoperative management and preoperative assessment.

Measurement of transcutaneous oxygen tension (tcpO₂) has gained worldwide acceptance as a simple and effective method of evaluating cutaneous blood flow in settings where skin viability and the adequacy of skin blood flow are of major concern. An example of such a setting is the non-invasive vascular laboratory at...

Application of wound healing management algorithms in hyperbaric oxygen therapy improve clinical outcomes and, at the same time, markedly reduce expenditures.

Assessment of tcpO₂ before and during hyperbaric oxygen treatment predicts the chance for a successful outcome.

Transcutaneous oxygen measurements play an important role in the evaluation and management of problem wounds. No precise threshold or target values exist for the prediction of outcome, and it is quite possible that each wound will have highly individualized oxygen dose requirements. Correction of ambient dermal oxygen ...