Researchers at Intermountain Health have developed a simple, yet potentially lifesaving device aimed at preventing one of the most dangerous complications that can occur after same-day surgery.
Doctors say opioid-induced respiratory depression can lead to severe, and sometimes fatal, health issues. The study’s findings were published in the “Respiratory Care Journal” and highlight the effectiveness of a monitoring device that tracks oxygen levels in a patient’s blood, which can help caregivers identify when respiratory issues are emerging.
Opioids are commonly prescribed for pain relief after surgical procedures and come with a risk of respiratory depression, a condition where the medication suppresses the body’s natural drive to breathe. While patients in hospitals are closely monitored, patients treated at same-day surgery centers are often discharged without ongoing monitoring, researchers noticed.
“We asked this question, we said, ‘Who is watching the patient now that we’re sending them home in under 24 hours?’ And the answer was always the same — an untrained family member or friend who would not necessarily be trained to know how to recognize or respond to the subtleties of the condition,” said Robert Mazzola, principal investigator and enterprise senior medical director for sleep services at Intermountain Health. “We found that with a simple, commercially available pulse oximeter and monitoring device, we can save lives.”…