The crown in Croatia has led to a craze for a small device – the doctor explains why

How much does the oximeter cost and where to buy it On the Croatian market, the price of an oximeter varies from 40 to euros. They are available for sale online from China for a few dollars, and such can be found on national online classifieds for a much higher price. As there is a real craze for them due to the outbreak, you may not find them in every pharmacy.

This device has become a real hit in recent months. Before the onset of the coronavirus, the oximeter was mainly used at home by chronic lung patients.

Today it is a useful tool that gives the first alarm to those infected with kovid 19 that the disease has progressed and, as part of the kuna pharmacy, it was recommended by the Croatian Family Medicine Coordination (KoHOM).

“So saturation is only the first step, not a complete diagnosis. But it can be a signal if you should seek medical help or calmly wait for the house to pass,” explains the prof. dr sc. Sanja Popovi-Grle, head of the department of allergic and obstructive pulmonary diseases at the Jordanovac Pulmonary Disease Clinic.

Before this pandemic, the oximeter, he says, was used by doctors for chronic lung patients. “It is an apparatus that is placed on the wrist of the second or third finger and shows the saturation of hemoglobin with oxygen. Hemoglobin in the blood is where oxygen enters when we die and actually carries oxygen through the blood to the whole body, “he explains.

Saturation or saturation is expressed as a percentage. The normal value in healthy people is above 96 percent.

“There is also a range that is also normal. Anything over 92% is satisfactory. However, if it drops below 92%, we think respiratory failure is occurring, it means insufficient gas exchange and incomplete breathing,” so the oxygen has to be compensated externally, through a nasal catheter, mask – there are several ways, “adds Popovi-Grle.

In some chronic pulmonary diseases, the goal of treatment may be saturation, say, 82% and, in the case of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, at least over 88%.

But if it’s just kovid, the blood oxygen saturation shouldn’t drop below 92 percent.

Photo: Depositphotos, minervastock

How to recognize insidious pneumonia caused by kovid?

“The specificity of this pneumonia is that it is bilateral, peripheral and causes a problem in the lung interstitium (the intercellular space where the fluids are). Is this interstitium important? A healthy interstitium is nearly empty, but when the disease begins, it is a space that can be filled with inflammatory cells. This is why it matters? Because it is the membrane through which oxygen enters. This is why kovid 19 pneumonia is pushed into the interstitium. inflammatory cells and the entrance of the oxygen is blocked and falls off, “he explains.

It reveals another specificity of inflammation caused by covid. It is, in short, insidious because the patient does not receive it until it is taken away.

“The great specificity and peculiarity of inflammation in patients with kovid 19 is the so-called silent hypoxemia. There is no clear signal for this,” he said.

That’s why, he points out, it is good to have an oximeter at home to measure the level of oxygen in the blood although the infected person may not feel the lack of oxygen.

He adds that we have 220 diseases that can cause such changes and any saturation below 88 percent alerts the patient to urgently contact the doctor.

How to use an oximeter correctly?

How to properly use an oximeter at home? These devices don’t work, but the result can be affected by several factors. One is nail polish. The finger must also be the same and dry. For the result to be believable, the person must be calm and sit for at least five minutes before measuring. He should put his finger on the table and only then measure.

“Anyone who does not have lung reserve during exertion will have a drop in blood oxygen levels,” he explains.

When asked if there are different types of pulse oximeters and if they differ in quality, Popovi-Grle replied: “There is no difference. Manufacturers have to have a standard and I think they are all equally reliable.”

He says this device only measures the oxygen level in the blood. It does not measure another equally important parameter, namely the level of carbon dioxide.

“Because our breathing serves to bring oxygen into the body, but also to exhale carbon dioxide, in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which includes pneumonia, the level of carbon dioxide in the blood is also important.

“The oximeter cannot measure CO2, it is only a screening, that is, a screening. The blood must be drawn from the artery and the oxygen level and the amount of CO2 must be evaluated. So saturation is only the first step, not a complete diagnosis “, concludes Popovi- Gole.