Evaluation of Oxygen-uptake and Delivery in Critically Ill Patients - a Statistical Reappraisal

Objective The evaluation of oxygen consumption (VO2) and oxygen delivery (DO2) has gained increasing importance in the monitoring of critically ill patients. They can be obtained from either direct measurements or by indirect calculations based on the Fick principle. However the choice between these two approaches remains controversial. The aim of the study was to investigate whether these 2 methods provide similar results, and if not, to define the best one in terms of reproducibility.