Comprehensive Pulse Oximetry Testing & Analysis

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Pulse Oximetry

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When To Get Checked

Pulse oximetry is a simple, painless test that provides valuable information about your health. It involves a small device that clips onto your finger to measure the oxygen in your blood. In fact we check pulse oximetry at each visit as part of the “normal” vital signs. You may wonder why this is important. Your body depends on oxygen for proper functioning. When you breathe, your lungs send oxygen into your blood, which travels throughout your body. Impaired lung function can lead to low oxygen levels, harming internal organs.

Even if you’re generally healthy, it can give your doctor important information, especially during physical activities or after surgeries.

The test is quick and easy. The device uses light to measure your blood oxygen levels. Your doctor will explain your results, but a reading between9295% and 100% is generally considered normal.

You are actively managing your health by scheduling a pulse oximetry test with our Atlanta heart doctors. It’s a simple way to catch issues early before they become more serious. Remember, when it comes to your health, knowledge is power. A quick pulse oximetry test can give you peace of mind or alert you to potential problems. Your body works hard for you every day. Why not have your CVG cardiologist give you a quick checkup?

Please read for more information on pulse oximetry and how CVG offers comprehensive cardiac care.

Pulse oximetry may be used in a variety of different situations. These include seeing how well lung medications are working, checking your ability to handle increased physical activity, determining whether you need a ventilator to facilitate breathing, checking if you experience obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and during or after surgery that requires sedation.

Pulse oximetry is also used to routinely check the health of people suffering from conditions that affect blood oxygen levels, such as heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), anemia, lung cancer, pneumonia, and asthma. These conditions can lead to lower overall oxygen saturation, so it’s important to get this regularly checked.

How The Test Works

A small electronic device will be clipped onto a part of your body, typically a fingertip. Your doctor may ask you to remove any fingernail polish or artificial nails to prepare for the test. This helps achieve the most accurate test results, as nail polish or artificial nails can interfere with the light used for this test. During the test, the device will emit a light that passes through the fingernail, skin, tissue, and blood.

On the other side of the finger, a sensor is placed there that will measure the amount of light that passes through the finger without getting absorbed by the tissue and blood. By measuring this light transmission, the device is able to calculate the level of oxygen saturation in your blood.

What The Results Mean

When the test is completed, your doctor will have a measurement known as a pulse oximeter reading which details the blood oxygen saturation level you currently have. A resting oxygen saturation level should be between9295% and 100% to be considered a normal amount for healthy people at sea level. For those living at higher elevations, oxygen saturation levels are typically slightly lower.

If your pulse oximeter reading drops below 92%, contact your doctor as soon as possible, as this may be a sign of hypoxia. Hypoxia is a medical condition in which not enough oxygen can reach the tissues throughout your body. If your blood oxygen saturation levels fall to 88% or lower, you should seek emergency medical treatment, as this can lead to life-threatening organ damage if left untreated.

For people with other medical conditions, such as lung disorders like COPD, your resting oxygen saturation levels may be below the normal range. This can still be considered acceptable, though it is important to discuss with your doctor what typical oxygen saturation levels are for specific medical conditions.

The Accuracy Of Results

Most pulse oximeter readings fall within a range of accuracy between 2% to 4% from the actual blood oxygen level. This means that your reading may show a result that can be anywhere from 2% to 4% lower or higher than the actual level of oxygen in your blood. There are many factors that can affect the accuracy of your results, such as the aforementioned fingernail polish or artificial nails.

Other factors that may sway your results include dyes that may be used for diagnostic tests or medical procedures, as these can impair the light transmission. Excessive motion, such as shivering and shaking, can also create an error in your results. The accuracy of the results may also be affected by your skin temperature and thickness, as well as whether you smoke tobacco products. Pulse oximetry is also shown to be less accurate for people who have a darker skin pigmentation.

Why Choose CVG?

At CVG, our cardiologists offer extensive experience caring for patients using state-of-the-art techniques. Their compassion adds so much to your care because our doctors understand how heart issues can affect you physically and take an emotional toll. Trust is the #1 factor in the doctor/patient relationship. You can trust your CVG cardiologist with every aspect of heart care.

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Board-certified Doctors

CVG’s twenty board-certified heart doctors will guide you through your healthcare journey with the utmost compassion and individual attention. We aim to provide you with state-of-the-art cardiac care that includes the full spectrum of services, from testing to diagnosis and treatment. The doctor/patient relationship is built on trust. Through our combined efforts, we can conquer any challenge that comes our way.

Invasive therapies may also treat an abnormal heart rhythm, such as electrical cardioversion, which sends electrical impulses through your chest wall and allows normal heart rhythm to restart, or catheter ablation that disconnects the abnormal rhythm’s pathway. Suppose your doctor determines that electrical devices are the best course of action. In that case, you may be given a permanent pacemaker, an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD), or biventricular (B-V) pacemakers and defibrillators.

How CVG Can Help

CVG offers multiple services that can discover an enlarged heart or conditions that will lead to it. At CVG, we perform stress tests that will observe blood flow and test for various forms of heart disease. There are three types of stress tests that we perform:

A treadmill test is a test in which you will walk on a treadmill that gets faster and steeper every 3 minutes. This will stress your heart so that our nurse or doctor can determine your heart rate and blood pressure.
An echo test is performed before and after your treadmill test to determine how well your heart pumps blood.
A nuclear stress test is a treadmill test that is prefaced by an injection of medicine that shows the flow of blood to your heart.

We also offer cardiac catheterization to diagnose and treat several heart issues. If any of these tests determine a problem, we offer treatment solutions such as atrial fibrillation testing and catheter ablation. Learn more about our services here, or schedule an appointment to talk to our doctors.

Schedule Your Appointment with a CVG Atlanta Area Cardiologist

Expertise, experience, and compassion are the pillars of CVG’s patient-centered cardiac care. Please schedule your appointment with CVG today. Call (770) 962-0399 or 678-582-8586. You may also request an appointment online. If you have an emergency, don’t contact us online; please call 911.