A healthy person should be able to achieve normal blood oxygen saturation levels (SpO2) of 94% to 99% consistently. For patients with mild respiratory diseases, the SpO2 should be 90% or above. Supplementary oxygen should be used if SpO2 levels falls below 90%, which is unacceptable for prolonged periods of time. Show
The blood oxygen level and the pulse rate, to a degree, are affiliated with each other but there is no strict direct correlation between the two. For example, a baby, a teenager a young adult and an elderly person in good health should all have a blood oxygen level of 94 or higher but the pulse in a baby can be 115 beats per minute while the other three people can average between 60 to 72 beats per minute. When you consider other variables like diet, and exercise regimen the range difference in pulse rate between people can be even more dramatic. A good example of such dramatic variations is marathon runners. Marathon runners can bring their pulse to as low as 35 beats per minute while maintaining a blood oxygen level of 97% or higher. This is due to the great conditioning of their bodies which makes the blood circulation so efficient that their hearts work very little to circulate the same amount of blood compared to non-runners. Your Blood Oxygen Normal Values are dependent on your health condition, respiratory rate, percentage of oxygen in the air, activities you are performing, and other factors. Medical conditions like COPD, Asthma, Pneumonia, Lung cancer and cancer treatments like chemotherapy, smoking habit or vaping can affect the lungs capacity to transfer oxygen to the blood, thus bringing down your blood oxygen levels in a permanent way. For more details and answers to your questions visit your doctor's office. Medicare will pay for oxygen therapy and oxygen equipment if your SpO2 readings are below 88%. If your blood oxygen saturation falls under 88% consistently, consult with a doctor immediately. Many doctors want their patients to have their SpO2 above 90%. Sleep apnea may affect your SpO2 level. In fact, monitoring your SpO2 level while sleeping is a good way to measure your condition. To learn more about Screening for Sleep Apnea, visit Screening Sleep Apnea with Pulse Oximeters Recently we have learned that Finger Pulse Oximeters are becoming an essential tool for detecting early Covid-19 caused Pneumonia in patients, even when they are not showing pneumonia symptoms, as reported by Doctor Richard Levitan in The New York Times article The Infection That�s Silently Killing Coronavirus Patients When tracking your oxygen levels in your blood pay attention to the trend. If you see anything unusual, it is time to consult your friendly doctor. Under certain special conditions, a pulse oximeter may not give accurate results. You need to be aware of these limitations when interpreting the result. Regardless of the reading, one should treat the patient first. The reading is only one of several important assessment criterions. Watch for symptoms of hypoxia or hypoxemia. Furthermore, pulse oximeter measures oxygen saturation, not breathing and does not indicate the removal of carbon dioxide from blood. Along with SpO2, one needs to record the respiratory rate to get an indication on breathing. If the patient is having supplementary oxygen, track the amount of oxygen also. Take appropriate actions if the patient is not feeling OK. Emergency care may be required. Monitor your pulse rate along with your SpO2. They are predictors of health problems. If you have abnormal readings even for a short period of time, see a doctor. Low or high pulse rate can indicate heart problems. According to Dr. Fred Furgang in his article "Hypoxia, Oxygen, and Pulse Oximetry," a pilot should use supplemental oxygen if the oximeter reading is below 90%, maintain at 91-92% level when doing remedial tasks and above 93% with increased workload. The amount of oxygen in the air, which decreases at higher altitude, would have a significant effect on a person's SpO2. A person may have a reading of 98% at sea level; it may decrease to 95% at 5,000 ft. and further to 90% at 10,000 ft. At altitude above 10,000 ft., a person may fail to adjust to the low level of oxygen and his SpO2 may drop below 80% resulting in hypoxic conditions. Pulse oximetry is a term that frequently appears online and in news reports in connection with COVID-19. But what, exactly, is it? Basically, pulse oximetry is a painless, noninvasive method of measuring the saturation of oxygen in a person’s blood. Oxygen saturation is a crucial measure of how well the lungs are working. When we breathe in air, our lungs transmit oxygen into tiny blood vessels called capillaries. In turn, these capillaries send oxygen-rich blood to the heart, which then pumps it through arteries to the rest of the body. Our organs need a constant supply of oxygen to work properly. When the capacity of the lungs to transport oxygen into the blood is impaired, blood oxygen saturation declines, potentially putting our organs in danger. A pulse oximeter can quickly detect this drop in oxygen saturation, alerting people of the need for medical intervention. If you have ever had a physical or visited a doctor for a medical procedure, you’ve had your blood oxygen saturation measured by a pulse oximeter. More recently, the spread of COVID-19, which can cause significant drops in blood oxygen saturation, has spurred a surge in the popularity of at-home pulse oximeters. (Some people who are worried they may have—or fear contracting—COVID-19, have purchased pulse oximeters with the aim of monitoring their blood oxygen levels.) “It’s important to remember that not all changes in pulse oximetry are related to COVID-19,” says Denyse Lutchmansingh, MD, a Yale Medicine pulmonologist. “Other lung-related issues, such as pneumonia and blood clots, can also result in low readings on pulse oximetry. Thus, persistently low readings should be discussed with a doctor.”
A small, electronic device called a pulse oximeter is clipped onto a part of the body, usually a fingertip. The device emits light that passes through the fingernail, skin, tissue, and blood. On the other side of the finger, a sensor detects and measures the amount of light that passes through the finger without getting absorbed by the tissue and blood. Using that measurement, the device calculates the oxygen saturation of the blood.
Pulse oximetry offers many advantages over traditional methods of measuring blood oxygen levels. Whereas traditional methods usually involve drawing a sample of arterial blood—a potentially painful experience for patients that requires around 15 minutes, at minimum, to analyze blood samples—pulse oximetry is noninvasive and provides near-immediate readings. What’s more, pulse oximeters can be used continuously and, therefore, can provide long-term monitoring of a person’s blood oxygen levels. At the same time, pulse oximetry is less precise than conventional methods, such as arterial blood gas testing. Also, it does not provide as much information on other blood gases (e.g., carbon dioxide) as do tests that directly measure the blood.
Today, pulse oximeters are used across a broad range of health care settings. In general practice, they are frequently used to quickly assess someone's general health, for instance, during a routine physical examination. In fact, pulse oximeters have become so widespread that blood oxygen saturation is often referred to as the “fifth vital sign,” a piece of data collected alongside four other measurements—temperature, blood pressure, pulse, and respiration rate—to gain insight into a person’s health status. Outside of general practice, pulse oximetry is most frequently used to monitor patients with lung and heart disorders, who are at risk of low levels of blood oxygen. In clinical settings, they are routinely used in the following situations:
When pulse oximeters are used at home, it has usually been by people with known lung conditions, who may regularly monitor their blood oxygen saturation levels with guidance from their doctors.
A resting oxygen saturation level between 95% and 100% is regarded as normal for a healthy person at sea level. At higher elevations, oxygen saturation levels may be slightly lower. People should contact a health care provider if their oxygen saturation readings drop below 92%, as it may be a sign of hypoxia, a condition in which not enough oxygen reaches the body’s tissues. If blood oxygen saturation levels fall to 88% or lower, seek immediate medical attention, says Dr. Lutchmansingh. Note that for people with known lung disorders such as COPD, resting oxygen saturation levels below the normal range are usually considered acceptable. A physician can provide details on appropriate oxygen saturation levels for specific medical conditions.
Most pulse oximeters are accurate to within 2% to 4% of the actual blood oxygen saturation level. This means that a pulse oximeter reading may be anywhere from 2% to 4% higher or lower than the actual oxygen level in arterial blood. A number of factors can impair the functioning or accuracy of a pulse oximeter. Nail polish and artificial nails may block the red and infrared light emitted by the device. Certain dyes used for diagnostic tests or medical procedures can also hinder light transmission. Excessive motion—shivering, shaking, or other movement—can also cause erroneous readings. Skin temparture and thickness can also reduce the accuracy of pulse pulse oximeters, and whether a person smokes tobacco can affect the device’s accuracy. Pulse oximetry can be less accurate for people who have dark skin pigmentation. Recent evidence suggests that pulse oximetry more frequently fails to detect hypoxemia—low blood oxygen levels—in Black patients as compared to white patients. Related Fact SheetsShowing 4 of 124
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