Continuous vs Intermittent Postoperative Vital Sign Monitoring

Does continuous vital sign monitoring reduce abnormalities in blood pressure, oxygenation, and heart rate during the initial 48 hours after noncardiac surgery?In this cluster randomized trial, using 4-week ward clusters among 798 postoperative patients, the duration of oxygen saturation less than 90% was reduced by approximately 30 minutes in continuously monitored patients, whereas hypotension and tachycardia durations did not decrease significantly.The findings of this study suggest that continuous postoperative ward monitoring reduces hypoxemia and warrants robust patient-centric outcomes trials.

Corresponding Author: Ashish K. Khanna, MD, MS, Division of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1009 (ashish.khanna@wfusm.edu).

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