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As cost-containment pressures continue to escalate in the health care industry, the cost-effectiveness of new technologies must be verified if their use in the care of patients is to be justified. Oximetrix fiberoptic pulmonary artery catheters (Abbott Critical Care Systems, North Chicago, IL) are used for the continuous measurement of mixed venous oxygen saturation, and have been promoted as a cost-effective, early, and accurate indicator of hemodynamic changes in critically ill patients and patients undergoing major surgical procedures. This retrospective study analyzed two groups of patients undergoing routine, elective coronary artery bypass grafting. In the first group, fiberoptic catheters were not used, whereas these catheters were used routinely in the second group. Multiple variables were analyzed in each group in an attempt to document cost-effectiveness or salutary effect on outcome as a result of the use of these catheters. Neither could be confirmed. It was concluded that the use of Oximetrix pulmonary artery catheters is not cost-effective and had no effect on outcome in this group of patients.

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