No abstract

Deep sedation of TKA patients during SAB resulted in moderate hypercarbia (mean and median PaCO2 = 55). There was a trend showing that nCPAP treatment reduced PaCO2 versus treatment for control group patients receiving standard airway management; however, estimated treatment difference varied widely, from 1.4 to 12.6 mm Hg. Among control group patients, the initial PaCO2 during deep sedation was similar to the PaCO2 when measured after a 30-minute period of continued deep sedation. Finally, baseline PaCO2 among deeply sedated patients who received an airway was not different from that of patients who did not receive an airway.