Correlation of pulse oximetry with arterial blood gas-derived oxygen saturation in ICU patients on supplemental oxygen: a cross-sectional study.

Introduction: Oxygen is essential for maintaining proper bodily functions and is closely regulated within the body. Hypoxemic patients, who have lower than normal oxygen levels in their blood, require precise monitoring to ensure appropriate oxygen therapy. Arterial blood gas (ABG) analysis (SaO Method: This was a prospective cross-sectional observational study conducted among 152 patients, admitted to Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU), who required supplemental oxygen during hospital stay. The ABG analysis was done, and pulse oximeter reading was recorded simultaneously. Data were entered in a structured proforma. The collected data were entered into IBM SPSS for statistical analysis. Statistical analysis included percentage, mean, median, standard deviation, and correlation between SaO Result: A total of 152 patients were included in the study, of which 74 were male and 78 were female with median age of 73.50 (interquartile range [IQR] 16) years. Most of the hypoxemic patients, 132 (86.84%), admitted to MICU had shortness of breath as the most prominent symptom and leading cause of MICU admission with hypoxemia was acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in 78 patients (51.32%). The most common mode of respiratory support was in the form of nasal prongs in 90 (59.21%) patients followed by non-invasive ventilation in 23 (15.13) patients. In our study, median of SaO Conclusion: Our study concluded that a strong correlation was found between SaO