Comparison of Traditional and Plethysmographic Methods for Measuring Pulsus Paradoxus
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
ARTICLE Comparison of Traditional and Plethysmographic Methods for Measuring Pulsus Paradoxus Jeff A. Clark, MD, FAAP; Mary Lieh-Lai, MD, FAAP; Ron Thomas, PhD; Kalyani Raghavan, MD; Ashok P. Sarnaik, MD, FAAP, FCCM Background: In the evaluation of patients with acute (PPpleth) on the pulse oximeter. Mean difference and asthma, pulsus paradoxus (PP) is an objective and non- 95% confidence intervals were calculated for each invasive indicator of the severity of airway obstruction. method. The 2 methods were also analyzed for correla- However, in children PP may be difficult or impossible tion and agreement using the Pearson product moment to measure. Indwelling arterial catheters facilitate the mea- correlation and a Bland and Altman plot. surement of PP, but they are invasive and generally re- served for critically ill patients. Results: Patients with status asthmaticus had higher PPausc and PPpleth readings compared with nonasthmatic pa- Objective: To determine the utility of the plethysmo- tients. Pulsus paradoxus measured by plethysmography graphic waveform (PPpleth) of the pulse oximeter in mea- in patients with and without asthma was similar to PPausc suring PP. readings (mean difference, 0.6 mm Hg; 95% confidence interval, −0.6 to 2.1 mm Hg). Individual PPpleth readings Methods: Patients from the pediatric intensive care showed significant correlation and agreement with PPausc unit, emergency department, and inpatient wards of a readings in patients both with and without asthma. tertiary care pediatric hospital were eligible for the study. A total of 36 patients (mean age [SD], 11.2 [4.7] Conclusion: Measurement of PP using the pulse oxim- years) were enrolled in the study. Pulsus paradoxus was eter–pulse plethysmographic waveform offers a simple measured using the traditional auscultatory (PPausc) and noninvasive method for evaluating patients with air- method with a sphygmomanometer. Pulsus paradoxus way obstruction. was then measured using a blood pressure cuff observ- ing for the disappearance and reappearance of the Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2004;158:48-51 ESPITE ADVANCES IN THE etry, blood gas sampling, and bedside spi- treatment and preven- rometry. However, a decrease in oxygen tion of asthma, it re- saturation may occur with only very mild mains one of the most airway obstruction or, conversely, may not common reasons for hos- occur at all even with severe airway ob- Dpitalization in the pediatric age group.1 Pe- struction. In addition, hypoxemia may be riodic assessment of the severity of air- masked by administration of small way obstruction is an integral part of the amounts of supplemental oxygen, such as management of status asthmaticus. How- with aerosol treatments. Spirometry, such ever, there are limitations to the various as peak expiratory flow rate, can be use- subjective and objective factors that are ful as an indicator of airway obstruction routinely used for assessment. There is a and as a measure of decreased pulmo- wide variation in how patients perceive and nary function from baseline in asthmatic describe their symptoms.2 The symp- individuals who use them regularly. De- toms of an attack such as cough, diffi- spite this, the utility of the peak expira- culty breathing, and wheezing frequently tory flow rate is limited in a child with se- do not correlate with severity. In addi- vere respiratory distress. Measurement of tion, there is a significant interobserver the partial pressure of arterial carbon di- From Critical Care Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, variability among physicians in evaluat- oxide (PaCO2) is a useful tool in evaluat- Children’s Hospital of ing physical signs such as the extent of ing alveolar ventilation. In mild and mod- Michigan, Wayne State wheezing and magnitude of respiratory dis- erate asthma the PaCO2 is usually low. University School of Medicine, tress.3,4 Some helpful tools in evaluating “Normalization” or significant elevations Detroit. the severity of asthma are pulse oxim- in PaCO2 are encountered only when air- (REPRINTED) ARCH PEDIATR ADOLESC MED/ VOL 158, JAN 2004 WWW.ARCHPEDIATRICS.COM 48 ©2004 American Medical Association. All rights reserved. Downloaded From: https://jamanetwork.com/ on 09/25/2021 way obstruction is severe enough to result in overall al- ting with the arm at the side, an appropriately sized arm cuff veolar hypoventilation. In addition, measurement of PaCO2 was inflated until all Korotkoff sounds disappeared. The cuff requires blood sampling. was deflated approximately 2 mm Hg per second until a few Pulsus paradoxus (PP) reflects an exaggeration of intermittent Korotkoff I sounds were heard. This pressure was the normal decrease in systolic blood pressure (SBP) dur- assumed to be the SBP during exhalation (Pex). The cuff pres- sure was similarly decreased until all Korotkoff I sounds were ing inspiration and is a quantifiable indicator of airway heard. This pressure was assumed to be the SBP during inspi- obstruction. It has been shown to correlate well with other ration (Pin). The difference between Pin and Pex was the PPausc. CO objective indicators of airway obstruction such as Pa 2 If Pex and Pin were not well defined during the initial deflation, and peak expiratory flow rate5,6; however, it is noninva- the cuff was reinflated once and an attempt at measurement sive and does not require cooperation with pulmonary was repeated. If Korotkoff I sounds were again not well heard, function tests. Pulsus paradoxus may be a useful ad- the cuff was deflated completely, and this process was re- junct in assessing the severity of airway obstruction at a peated after a short wait, a maximum of 3 times in total. The given time, as well as documenting response to therapy, first PP that was clearly heard was recorded as PPausc.IfPPwas especially in situations in which more invasive tests are not clearly discernible by auscultation, the patient was ex- not readily available, such as an office setting. Timing of cluded from the study. Pulsus paradoxus was then determined in the same pa- PP measurement to inspiration and expiration can be dif- tient using the PPpleth from a standard patient transport moni- ficult in asthmatic children who are tachypneic, tachy- tor (Marquette Electronics, Milwaukee, Wis). The pulse ox- cardic, and likely to be uncooperative. Therefore, in- imeter probe (Nellcor, Pleasanton, Calif) was placed on the stead of attempting to correlate SBP with phases of patient’s second or third finger of the same arm used for PPausc respiration, measurement of PP using variations in SBP and an adequate signal quality was ascertained by comparison 7 has been proposed in children. Nevertheless, such a mea- of the displayed PPpleths to the palpable pulse. The appropriate- surement is cumbersome and subject to considerable in- sized cuff was placed on the arm and inflated until the PPpleth terrater and intrarater variability as well as observer bias. disappeared from the monitor. The cuff pressure was then de- Improvements in the method of determining PP may al- creased at approximately 2 mm Hg per second in a similar fash- low it to be a more useful tool in evaluating airway ob- ion to PPausc determination, until intermittent PPpleths appeared and this pressure was assumed to be the SBP during Pex. The struction. cuff pressure was lowered further until all PP were dis- Newer pulse oximeters are equipped with a visual pleths played. This pressure was the SBP during Pin. The difference display of the pulse plethysmographic waveform (PPpleth). between Pex and Pin was the PPpleth. We proposed that the PPpleth of the pulse oximeter would Pulsus paradoxus by auscultation and PPpleth means (SDs) be an acceptable substitute for Korotkoff sounds for the were calculated, as well as the mean difference between the 2 measurement of PP. Our hypothesis was PP measured methods with 95% confidence intervals. Pearson product mo- by the pulse oximetry PPpleth would be greater in asth- ment correlation was used to compare values obtained by the matic children compared with nonasthmatic children. different methods. In addition, because of concerns regarding Furthermore, PP measured using the pulse oximeter ple- the use of the product moment correlation for the comparison thysmograph would have good agreement with the value of different methods of measurement, we also compared the readings using a Bland and Altman plot, giving an estimation obtained by the traditional method of auscultation of of agreement. Korotkoff sounds. RESULTS METHODS Thirty-six patients from the pediatric intensive care unit, emer- During a 4-month period, 36 patients were enrolled. Their gency department, and inpatient wards of the Children’s Hos- ages ranged from 27 months to 20 years, with a mean pital of Michigan, Detroit, were enrolled over a 4-month pe- (SD) age of 11.2 (4.7) years. Twenty patients were male, riod. Both asthmatic and nonasthmatic patients were evaluated. and 16 were female. Eleven were admitted having a di- All asthmatic patients were at the time of evaluation diag- agnosis of status asthmaticus; the remaining 25 patients nosed as having status asthmaticus, which was defined as the had various diagnoses none of which was expected to gen- acute onset of symptomatic expiratory airflow obstruction with- erate a significant PP (Table 1). Five patients were ex- out significant improvement after administration of aerosol- ized -agonist treatments. Verbal consent was obtained by the cluded after consent owing to the inability to measure primary investigator (J.A.C.) from the guardian or patient and PPausc because of the patient’s inability to remain still dur- documented in the patient’s medical record. This study was ap- ing PP measurement. In all patients whose PPausc was dis- proved by the Wayne State University Human Investigations cernible, PPpleth was able to be measured as well. Committee. The patients were chosen by their ability to coop- The PP was significantly higher in the asthmatic erate with study requirements (ie, remain still) from the emer- group compared with the nonasthmatic group when mea- gency department and inpatient populations (generally aged sured by either auscultation or plethysmography from 0 to 18 years).