Continuous peripheral perfusion index in patients admitted to hospital wards - An observational study.

Introduction: Risk patients admitted to hospital wards may quickly develop haemodynamic deterioration and early recognition has high priority to allow preventive intervention. The peripheral perfusion index (PPI) may be an indicator of circulatory distress by assessing peripheral perfusion non-invasively from photoplethysmography. We aimed to describe the characteristics of PPI in hospitalized patients since this is not well-studied.

Physiological abnormalities in patients admitted with acute exacerbation of COPD: an observational study with continuous monitoring.

Acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) may rapidly require intensive care treatment. Evaluation of vital signs is necessary to detect physiological abnormalities (micro events), but patients may deteriorate between measurements. We aimed to assess if continuous monitoring of vital signs in patients admitted with AECOPD detects micro events more often than routine ward rounds.

Towards an automated multimodal clinical decision support system at the post anesthesia care unit.

Background: The aim of this study was to develop a predictive algorithm detecting early signs of deterioration (ESODs) in the post anesthesia care unit (PACU), thus being able to intervene earlier in the future to avoid serious adverse events. The algorithm must utilize continuously collected cardiopulmonary vital signs and may serve as an alternative to current practice, in which an alarm is activated by single parameters.

Methods: The study was a single center, prospective cohort study including 178 patients admitted to the PACU after major surgical procedures.