Capnography monitoring in the Post Anaesthesia Care Unit (PACU)

Abstract

Problem identification Capnography monitoring has been identified as a valuable monitoring tool to assist in the early detection of respiratory adverse events in post-operative patients in the PACU who are receiving supplemental oxygen. This integrated review of literature aims to identify the usefulness of implementing capnography monitoring in the PACU as standard practice to ensure safe patient outcomes. A search was undertaken of Scopus, Cumulative Index Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) Complete, Health Source: Nursing and Academic Edition, Clinical Key, PubMed and MEDLINE Complete electronic databases. Articles (n=12) were selected for this review including a randomised control trial (RCT), quality improvement projects, a prospective observation study, a prospective cross-sectional study, an evidence summary and a systematic review and meta-analysis study.