Investigating the possibility of using noninvasive basic monitoring in patients with acute burns undergoing general anesthesia

Background: Basic noninvasive monitoring is considered as the standard procedure in patients with acute burns under general anesthesia. In such cases, noninvasive monitoring probes may often be ineffective on damaged skin due to the nature of burns pathology. Hence, the noninvasive monitoring is very challenging. Because of such limitations, we conducted this study to examine the practical difficulties or possibility of noninvasive monitoring utilization. Methods: Over the period of 2016–2017, 100 patients who were injured by acute burns with 20%–90% of TBS and undergoing general anesthesia at Motahari Burn Hospital were enrolled in this descriptive study. Basic monitoring techniques including noninvasive blood pressure (NIBP), cardiac monitoring, and pulse oximetry were applied throughout all surgeries as much as possible. Results: Evidence demonstrated that the application of NIBP monitoring in 23% of cases, cardiac monitoring in 63% of patients, and also even pulse oximetry in 7% of them were impossible. Conclusion: Limited usage of invasive monitoring due to vulnerability to sepsis leads to the noninvasive approach. Hence, technical innovations in noninvasive monitoring may help clinicians to monitor physiological indices, more safely.