A new study may help health care professionals quickly identify inadequate blood flow in trauma patients. Stephen M. Cohn, M.D., professor and the Dr. Witten B. Russ Chair of the surgery department at the Health Science Center, served as the lead investigator of the multi-site StO2 (local tissue oxygen saturation) Trauma Study headed by Hutchinson Technology Incorporated. Dr. Cohn presented the results at the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma meeting last month.
The study investigated the role that StO2 monitoring with Hutchinson Technology’s InSpectra StO2 Tissue Oxygenation Monitor could play in hemorrhagic shock and resuscitation.
“While base deficit will continue to be used as one indicator of a trauma patient’s condition, these study results support StO2 as a valid adjunctive measure that will provide continuous information to help trauma teams make confident decisions,” Dr. Cohn said.
A trauma patient is a person who has a serious and life-threatening physical injury, resulting in secondary complications such as shock, respiratory failure and death. More than 380 severely injured patients were enrolled in this study that was initiated in 2004.
