Pulse oximeters – tools used by health care professionals to measure blood oxygen levels – are capable of giving erroneous results in some cases, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has now warned.
During the coronavirus pandemic, healthcare professionals around the world relied on pulse oximeters to identify Covid patients who may need hospitalization. However, now the FDA has warned that the device may not always provide an accurate reading, so it should not be used to test or regulate Covid-19.
Instead, the body recommends looking for other signs of low oxygen, such as bluish color in the face, lips, or nails, racing blow, or rest and discomfort. While the tool may be useful for estimating blood oxygen levels, the FDA said its limitations should be considered in certain circumstances.
According to the U.S. Health Organization, a number of factors – including, poor circulation, skin pigmentation, skin thickness and temperature – can affect reading accuracy.
Earlier this week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated their coronavirus guidelines to warn health care professionals that data from several studies suggest that skin pigmentation may affect read accuracy oximeter. A recent study published by the New England Journal of Medicine suggested that the device could give erroneous readings to people with darker skin.
“The latest scientific evidence shows that there are precision differences in pulse oximeters between dark and light skin pigmentation,” the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said in a statement.
In January, the World Health Organization (WHO) listed the use of the oximeter pulse to identify Covid patients who may need hospitalization due to low oxygen levels.
(Agencies)