Availability of portable capnometers in children with tracheostomy.

Background: A capnometer is a noninvasive monitor that is used to assess patients' respiratory status. This study was performed to evaluate the availability of a portable capnometer in children with tracheostomy.

Methods: This retrospective study included children with tracheostomy who were treated at the Osaka Women's and Children's Hospital Osaka, Japan, from 1 September 2018 to 31 October 2019. We assessed the correlation between the partial pressure of venous carbon dioxide (PvCO ) and end-tidal carbon dioxide tension (EtCO ) using a portable capnometer (EMMA; Masimo, Irvine, CA, USA).

Results: Nine infants and 43 simultaneous PvCO -EtCO pairs were analyzed. The correlation coefficient of these pairs was 0.87 (95% confidence interval, 0.77-0.93; P < 0.001). The Bland-Altman plot showed that EtCO was on average 10.0 mmHg lower than its paired PvCO value (95% limits of agreement, 1.0-19.1). The difference between PvCO and EtCO was significantly greater in patients on ventilators.

Conclusions: The portable capnometer evaluated in this study (EMMA) was readily available and useful for assessment of the respiratory condition in children with tracheostomy.