O017 Utility of Inpatient Overnight Oximetry

BACKGROUND: Overnight pulse oximetry is a non-invasive method of monitoring oxygen saturations. It has a myriad of clinical applications; including screening for moderate to severe sleep disordered breathing, identification and qualification of nocturnal hypoxia in patients who may benefit from domiciliary nocturnal oxygen and detection of nocturnal hypoventilation in patients with severe respiratory or neuromuscular disease. In our tertiary hospital, overnight oximetry is ordered at the discretion of sleep and respiratory physicians, without formal guidelines. METHODS: A retrospective review of patients who underwent inpatient overnight oximetry for any clinical indication in the period between January 2019 and December 2019 was performed. Electronic and paper-based medical records were reviewed and analysed. Subsequent in-laboratory polysomnography data and outpatient clinic review documentation was reviewed to determine the medium term impact of the oximetry. PROGRESS TO DATE: 58 inpatient pulse oximetry studies were performed in the period examined. The indications for overnight oximetry fell into 4 groups - screening for sleep disordered breathing in patients with a high pre-test probability, assessment for domiciliary nocturnal home oxygen, assessment of adequacy of nocturnal oxygen therapy and assessment of adequacy of established positive airway pressure therapy. INTENDED OUTCOME AND IMPACT: There is no existing guidance on the use of overnight oximetry in adult inpatients. Our data shows that in patients with a high clinical suspicion of sleep disordered breathing, inpatient overnight oximetry frequently diagnosed sleep disordered breathing. In other patient groups, inpatient oximetry infrequently altered management. This data will help guide appropriate guidelines for inpatient overnight oximetry.