Capnography for Monitoring of the Critically Ill Patient

Abstract

Capnography has been widely adopted in multiple clinical areas. The capnogram and end-tidal carbon dioxide offer a wealth of information, in the right clinical setting, and when properly interpreted. In this article, the authors aim to review the most common clinical scenarios during which capnography has been shown to be of benefit. This includes the areas of fluid responsiveness, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and conscious sedation. They review the published literature, highlighting its pitfalls and identifying its limitations.

Keywords: Capnography; Cardiac arrest; Cardiopulmonary resuscitation; Conscious sedation; Fluid responsiveness; Shock.