The smart respiratory monitoring integrated pulmonary index: An overview of the literature

Abstract

Assessments of the respiratory functions of patients are frequently based on measurements of arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2), end-tidal carbon dioxide (PetCO2), respiratory rate (RR), and heart rate (HR). Interpreting the data derived from the measurements of these parameters can be highly problematic for health care workers, especially those who are inexperienced in monitoring the respiratory functions. However, the integrated pulmonary index (EPI) monitorization can offer a single value for easy evaluation of ventilation and oxygenization. This method combines the SpO2, PetCO2, RR, and HR values in a mathematical model to obtain an index value, EPI. This value can be continuously monitored as either a numerical value or a waveform displayed on the monitor. In reviewing the literature on EPI, we noted that the EPI has been used more frequently in procedures performed under sedation, such as gastroscopy, colonoscopy, cardioversion, and tooth extraction, and in intensive care units, for adjusting settings and modes of mechanical ventilation, evaluating the compliance of the patient to the mechanical ventilation therapy, and monitoring the weaning process, and during the postoperative follow-up of patients who have undergone coronary bypass surgery, to detect respiratory problems and evaluate the weaning process. In conclusion, using the EPI to monitor respiratory function has attracted considerable attention because it ensures noninvasive, dynamic, and real-time measurements, reflects the respiratory states of patients with higher specificity, and sensitive, and enables earlier recognition of respiratory problems. In addition, an important advantage of this system is that it allows physicians, in particular those who are not anesthesiologists, to use the EPI index to evaluate the respiratory states of patients rapidly and easily. © 2018, Logos Medical Publishing. All rights reserved.