ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the basics of essential monitoring and outlines some of the more advanced forms of monitoring. Monitoring is fundamental to the safe conduct of anaesthesia. Monitoring devices are not a substitute for continued clinical assessment but should be used to alert the anaesthetist to rapidly changing situations. In every hospital monitoring devices differ – it is sensible to ask a senior colleague or friendly operating department practitioner to go through the monitors with anaesthetist on day one. Continuous monitoring can be via a nasopharyngeal probe, although this is only accurate in ventilated patients where airflow does not occur over the probe tip. Core body temperature can be measured via oesophageal probes or via specialised urinary catheters and intracranial monitoring. The pulmonary artery catheter was the 'gold standard' for monitoring cardiac output, although it is infrequently used now because of the risks from insertion and dilation of the pulmonary balloon component.
