Description of an assembled noninvasive capnography setup.

BACKGROUND Noninvasive capnography is not routinely available on portable transport patient monitors but can be useful in respiratory monitoring of spontaneously breathing patients during transport, especially when sedation is administered. We describe an assembled setup of face mask capnography. The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility and performance of an assembled face mask capnography setup using common transport equipment for invasive monitoring. METHODS Using a transport monitor with an invasive capnography channel and a mainstream inline capnometer, we assembled a standard oxygen face mask to function as a noninvasive capnogram and tested its performance on 17 healthy adult volunteers. The study assessed the quality of the resultant capnography waveform and with variables such as simulated apnea and head positioning. RESULTS We were able to show that the assembled noninvasive capnography setup provided adequate waveform in all test subjects and that it reliably triggered the apnoea monitor alarm when respirations were less than 6 breaths/min. CONCLUSIONS An assembled noninvasive capnography setup is feasible using common portable monitoring devices. It can display capnographic waveforms and allow visual representation of simulated apnoea.