EtCO2 in sepsis behaves in a way that surprises people the first time they see it. The patient is infected, feverish and breathing hard, and the carbon dioxide reading is low. That low number is the point. It is the

EtCO2 in trauma tells you two very different things, and getting them confused can harm the patient. In a bleeding patient, a falling EtCO2 is a circulation alarm. It means blood is not reaching the lungs, and it can flag

Capnography in asthma and COPD is the one situation where the shape of the trace matters more than the number on it. In obstructive disease, the EtCO2 value can look almost normal while the patient is in serious trouble. But

Drugs that affect EtCO2 fall into two very different groups, and confusing them is how clinicians get misled. Some medications genuinely change the patient’s carbon dioxide, by slowing their breathing, speeding up their metabolism, or releasing CO2 into the blood.

Capnograph cost of ownership is the number that should drive a purchase decision, and it is almost never the number people compare. They compare the quote. Then they buy the cheapest device and pay for it every year afterwards. A

Capnograph maintenance is simpler than most people fear, and more important than most people realise. A capnograph is a measuring instrument. If it drifts, it does not stop working. It keeps giving you numbers, and they are quietly wrong. The

Capnography sensor placement is one of those tasks that looks trivial and quietly is not. Put the sensor in the wrong place, or skip the zeroing step, and the monitor will still show you a number. It will just be

Capnography for small clinics is usually treated as optional. The reasoning sounds sensible. We are a small setup. We do simple cases. We have a pulse oximeter. Capnography is for big hospitals. The evidence says the opposite. Smaller settings carry

Capnography troubleshooting begins with a rule that matters more than any fix in this guide: check the patient before you blame the monitor. Most capnography problems are simple, and most have a quick remedy. But the one mistake that hurts

A low EtCO2 means carbon dioxide is not reaching the lungs, or is being blown off faster than the body makes it. The number sits below 35 mmHg, and the reason is one of four things. This matters more urgently