Abstract 326: Prehospital Use of Nasal Cannula End-Tidal CO 2 Monitoring in Non-Intubated Major Traumatic Brain Injury Patients

• Published in: Circulation (New York, N.Y.) N.Y.), 2019-11, Vol.140 (Suppl_2)
• Main Authors: Spaite, Daniel W, Barnhart, Bruce J, Helfenbein, Eric, Jorgenson, Dawn, Babaeizadeh, Saeed, Gaither, Joshua B, Rice, Amber D, Keim, Samuel M, Hu, Chengcheng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0009-7322; 1524-4539
• DOI: 10.1161/circ.140.suppl_2.326

Abstract only Objective: Little is known about End-Tidal CO 2 monitoring using nasal cannula sensors (NC-CO 2 ) in non-intubated patients. Objective: To describe the patterns of NC-CO 2 seen during the EMS care of spontaneously breathing major Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) patients. Methods: Continuous NC-CO 2 data (Philips MRx™ monitors) were evaluated from non-intubated, major (moderate, severe, critical) TBI cases (4/13-5/17) in the EPIC TBI Study (NIH 1R01NS071049). Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate case and NC-CO 2 attributes. Results: Included were 92 cases [median age = 50 (range 10-91; 66% male)]. Median respiratory rate (RR) was >15/min in 87% of cases and >20/min in 53%. The highest median RR was 39. Sixteen cases (17%) had a median NC-CO 2 50. Several common NC-CO 2 patterns emerged: 1) while the final level varied among patients, the vast majority of cases (79, 86%) attained a stable “plateau” with relatively small variation after that point; 2) ETCO 2 often “ramped up” from