Bilateral Jugular Bulb Oximetry

Abstract

Jugular bulb oxygen saturation (SjO₂) monitoring has been proposed as a means of early detection of cerebral ischemia caused by intracranial hypertension. There remain, however, many unsolved problems as to the physiological basis for this monitoring, so that the obtained SjO₂ value sometimes is difficult to interpret. One may ask, for instance, which side of the internal jugular vein is to be cannulated or whether the SjO₂ values obtained from one side really represent whole-brain oxygenation or at least that of the ipsilateral hemisphere. To answer this question, a considerable amount of knowledge about cerebral blood flow distribution and metabolism and their response to various insults must be obtained. Several studies have investigated bilateral jugular bulb oxygenation. The problem of side-to-side discrepancies is still controversial. Our study was planned to observe bilateral SjO₂ in various clinical settings to see whether such discrepancies, if such ever existed, would change our perspective on cerebral oxygenation monitoring.