Pulse oximetry in low-resource settings during the COVID-19 pandemic

Pulse oximetry is essential for assessing oxygen saturation during respiratory compromise and for monitoring patients undergoing anaesthesia, who are critically ill, or whose condition is rapidly evolving. More immediately, during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, silent hypoxia (ie, abnormally low oxygen saturation without symptoms of dyspnoea), is common in patients with COVID-19.b In low-resource settings where oxygen supplies and monitored beds are scarce, pulse oximetry is a crucial device for triaging patients and establishing the need for supplemental oxygen.