Neurological and Tissue Perfusion Monitoring

Description

The presence of an appropriately trained and experienced anaesthetist is the main determinant of patient safety during anaesthesia. However, human error is inevitable and  there is substantial evidence that monitoring reduces the risks of incidents and accidents both by detecting the consequences of errors, and by giving early warning that the condition of a patient is deteriorating for some other reason. The use of neurological and tissue perfusion monitoring  has given the anesthesiologist  the opportunity to provide a safe and more effective service to the patient requiring delicate surgery. Enthusiasm for new technologies has pushed clinical researchers to conduct large studies evaluating the effects of monitoring-guided therapy on the outcome of critically ill patients. Perhaps these studies were conducted too early, before sufficient knowledge of the physiologic meaning of the values provided by these new technologies had been gathered. The current presentation aims to present the principles and clinical applications of some of the monitoring systems. The role of some of these systems still remains ill-defined. Many of them are expensive. Interpretation of the data from these monitors depends on a thorough knowledge of the clinical and technical aspects of the modality in use.