The authors of the study examined adverse events and patient satisfaction before and after the introduction of capnographic monitoring in 966 outpatient procedures — in this case, colonoscopies.
They found patients and nurses reported higher levels of procedural discomfort after adopting capnography and similar incidence of minor sedation-related adverse events compared to the non-capnographic monitoring group.
Not only did capnography fail to improve quality and patient satisfaction in the colonoscopy patients, it cost more. Using capnography during routine colonoscopy procedures added $11.68 per case, or $40,169.95 for the entire unit studied.
“These data suggest that routine capnography in this setting may not be cost effective and that [capnographic monitoring] might be reserved for patients at higher risk of adverse events,” concluded the study.
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