Oxygen tension in different tissues.

Our findings of studies in critically ill patients can be summarized as follows: 1) Adequacy of tissue oxygenation cannot be predicted solely from measurement of arterial blood Po2 since normal values may be associated with an inadequate tissue oxygen supply. 2) Measurements of global blood flow are in no way indicative of the distribution of blood flow within an organ and point to need for more specific monitoring within organs of both low distribution and metabolic activity.