Recently, many people have asked whether they should buy an oximeter? Judging from the market supply situation, finger clip oximeters on some e-commerce platforms are out of stock.
So, is there any need to prepare?
In this regard, the doctor said, "As far as the new coronavirus infection is concerned, the vast majority of families do not need to be equipped with oximeters."
The World Health Organization (WHO) also has an answer to the oximeter in its new coronavirus column, saying that "most patients with new coronavirus infection receiving home care do not need to use pulse oximeter".
So, if the public is not buying an oximeter, don't worry, it's not a necessity.
Why mention the oximeter?
The oximeter is still a relatively unfamiliar medical device for many people. Why monitor blood oxygen? What does the oximeter do?
Oxygen enters the blood through the gas exchange of the respiratory membrane, combines with hemoglobin in the blood, and becomes oxyhemoglobin. Blood oxygen saturation is the abbreviation of pulse oxygen saturation, which refers to the percentage of oxygenated hemoglobin in the blood under a certain oxygen partial pressure to the total hemoglobin.
Blood oxygen saturation is widely used in various critical care in hospitals to reflect the oxygen supply status of human tissues and organs, and is often used to judge whether there is hypoxemia in the human body. For example, the normal value of arterial oxygen saturation in normal people is 95%-100%. If it is lower than 90%, it often indicates hypoxemia, which needs to be corrected by taking oxygen therapy and other measures.
The World Health Organization pointed out that people infected with the new coronavirus may experience a drop in blood oxygen, which may be life-threatening. In general, a drop in blood oxygen levels below 90 percent, or a gradual decline, may be an early sign that further medical evaluation is warranted.
Why do most people not need an oximeter?
In general, only patients who may have hypoxemia need to monitor blood oxygen saturation clinically, such as patients with severe pneumonia. Abnormal oxygen saturation is usually related to pulmonary ventilation dysfunction, pulmonary ventilation dysfunction or significant decline in oxygen delivery capacity.
Therefore, those who have significantly weakened cough reflex due to cerebral infarction, cerebral hemorrhage or traumatic brain injury, advanced age or central and peripheral neuropathy lead to respiratory muscle dysfunction, apnea syndrome, bronchial asthma, interstitial pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease People with severe impairment of pulmonary ventilation or ventilation function due to pulmonary emphysema, as well as severely impaired heart function are prone to hypoxemia, so you may consider preparing a finger clip oximeter at home.
For the general population without serious underlying diseases, monitoring blood oxygen saturation is of little significance, and there is no need to follow suit and buy an oximeter.
What should I do if I don’t buy an oximeter and I’m worried about the drop in blood oxygen?
Chest tightness, shortness of breath, dyspnea, or severe shortness of breath after activity are highly suggestive of hypoxemia in the human body. Therefore, there is no need to rely on the measurement results of the finger oximeter.
For people who are able to move normally, a simple test can be done to judge - let them walk or climb stairs, "People who can walk more than 200 meters without stopping, or go directly to the third floor without stopping, their cardiopulmonary function is usually not too bad. "
After the optimization of the epidemic prevention policy, many citizens feel nervous or even panic, afraid of contracting the new crown virus. The hot sales of finger clip oximeters may also reflect this nervousness. In this regard, the doctor said: "From the previous data, excluding the influence of underlying diseases, the number of severe patients really caused by the new coronavirus infection is less than one in a thousand, and the death rate is even lower than that of influenza." In his opinion, Except for the elderly with serious underlying diseases or people with severe immune deficiency who need special protection, infection with the new coronavirus will not have much impact on the vast majority of people, so you don't need to be overly anxious. You should still be calm, neither belittle nor panic.
Extended information: The working principle and usage of home oximeter
Generally, the finger clip oximeter for home use is very small, and it only needs to be clipped on the finger to detect the blood oxygen saturation. What is its principle? It turns out that hemoglobin has the characteristic of light absorption. Oxygenated hemoglobin and free hemoglobin can absorb light of different wavelengths. The finger clip oximeter can calculate the blood oxygen saturation of the human body by detecting the amount of light absorbed by peripheral arterial blood to light of different wavelengths.
To measure the oxygen level in the blood, simply clip the oximeter to the patient's finger or toe. Results are available in minutes and the entire process is painless.
