Practical experiences and in vitro and in vivo validation studies with a new gastric tonometric probe in human adult patients.

PURPOSE

This study provides practical experiences with a new, simple, balloon-free gastric tonometric probe (probe) and reports the results of simultaneous in vitro and in vivo measurements with a conventional, ballooned gastric air tonometer (catheter) and the new device.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Ten healthy volunteers and 50 anesthetized surgical patients with different American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) scores, scheduled for neurologic, orthopedic, trauma, and cardiac operations, were enrolled in the study. The values of 60 in vitro and, in 12 surgical patients, 101 in vivo paired Pco(2) measurements--performed simultaneously with the new tonometric probe and the catheter that was connected to a Tonocap monitor--were compared. The tolerability of the measurement with the new probe was examined, and the results of gastric tonometry and, in surgical cases, the gastric tonometric, end-expiratory, and arterial Pco(2) values were registered. The results were evaluated by analysis of variance test. The data of the in vivo paired measurements were evaluated by Bland-Altman analysis.

RESULTS

The use of the probe proved to be well tolerated and easily applicable in the studied cases. The results of 20 measurements obtained in healthy volunteers and those of 520 measurements in the surgical cases correspond to the data obtained with the classical methods published in the medical literature. During in vitro paired measurements, there was a good agreement between the data obtained with the 2 methods; however, in the in vivo studies, the results of measurements performed with the probe were mostly higher.

CONCLUSIONS

The differences between the results obtained with the 2 methods might have been caused by the quicker equilibration property of the probe and by the fundamental differences between the 2 methods. The new probe seems to be applicable for routine human measurements.