Respiratory failure & ventilation
Prehospital Normoventilation in Critically Ill Anaesthetised Patients Cannot Be Reliably Monitored by Capnography—A Retrospective Observational Study
Authors' conclusion
Our results show that for critically ill patients intubated in the prehospital setting, capnography is not accurate in guiding ventilation.
Study context
- Population
- Anaesthetised and intubated prehospital patients with measured PaCO2, single helicopter EMS unit, 2014–2021
- Participants
- 670 participants
- Exposure
- Agreement between EtCO2 and PaCO2 across diagnostic groups
- OHCAn = 221
- Trauman = 104
- Neurologicaln = 197
- Intoxicationn = 99
- Othern = 49
- Outcome
- Agreement between EtCO2 and PaCO2 (Bland-Altman); proportion with PaCO2-EtCO2 gradient >0.67 kPa
Methodological detailssingle helicopter EMS unit
- Single helicopter EMS unit
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
PaCO2-EtCO2 gradient >0.67 kPa
- Overall gradient >0.67 kPa: 530/670
- 79.1% (95% CI 75.9-82.0)
- Overall Bland-Altman bias (SD 1.6; limits of agreement −1.4 to 4.8 kPa)
- 1.7 kPa
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Original publication
Prehospital Normoventilation in Critically Ill Anaesthetised Patients Cannot Be Reliably Monitored by Capnography—A Retrospective Observational Study. Acta Anaesthesiol Scand. Published 29 July 2026. doi:10.
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