Central venous oxygen saturation and emergency intubation – another piece in the puzzle?

A recent multicentre observational study examined the effect of emergency intubation on central venous oxygen saturation (SCVo(2)) in critically ill patients. The main finding was that SCVo(2 )significantly increases 15 minutes after emergency intubation and institution of mechanical ventilation with 100% oxygen, especially in those patients with pre-intubation SCVo(2 )values <70%, regardless of whether these patients suffered from severe sepsis. However, in only one-quarter of this subgroup was the SCVo(2 )normalized to ≥70% solely by this intervention. In contrast, in patients with pre-intubation SCVo(2 )≥70%, the SCVo(2 )failed to increase after intubation. A rise in SCVo(2 )can be expected when whole body oxygen extraction remains unchanged after intubation and ventilation with pure oxygen.