The Cost in Oxygen of Surgical Trauma (CO2ST)

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    The Cost in Oxygen of Surgical Trauma (CO2ST)– a feasibility study of the non-invasive measurement of oxygen delivery and consumption after major abdominal surgery

  • IRAS ID

    163366

  • Contact name

    Adam Kimble

  • Contact email

    a.kimble@nhs.net

  • Sponsor organisation

    Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust Research & Development Department

  • Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

    NCT02238561

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    0 years, 5 months, 1 days

  • Research summary

    Major surgery triggers a physiological stress response that results in an increase in post-operative metabolic demand and oxygen consumption (VO2), which must be met by an increased oxygen delivery (DO2). Research from the 1980’s described the increase in VO2 in patients after major surgery and presented evidence that the inability to repay this “oxygen-debt” was associated with severe post-operative complications and mortality. These studies used invasive techniques to measure and calculate VO2 & DO2 that are inconsistent with modern care. In addition, patients with other pre-existing medical problems, that in the past may not have survived major surgery, now do well post-operatively with greatly reduced mortality and complication rates. It may be that in 2014 surgery triggers less stress on the body so we don’t generate the same “oxygen debt” seen before, but because we are not performing invasive monitoring we can’t measure this easily.

    We have previously compared non-invasive techniques of measuring VO2 and DO2 with current “gold-standard” minimally invasive techniques and seen a consistently measured pattern post-operatively that suggests the non-invasive techniques are sufficiently accurate to detect trends in post-operative VO2. We now propose to use these non-invasive techniques to investigate the feasibility of measuring the post-operative VO2 and DO2 in patients after major abdominal surgery. We will also explore the temporal pattern of post-operative VO2 and DO2 and their relationship with post-operative complications.

  • REC name

    South West - Cornwall & Plymouth Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    14/SW/1109

  • Date of REC Opinion

    6 Nov 2014

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion