What is pulse oximetry and why do patients need it?

A pulse oximetry (pulse ox) is a small clothes pin looking piece of equipment, usually placed on the patients finger, used to measure the amount of oxygen in the blood. The pulse ox. is noninvasive, very inexpensive, readilyavailable and it provides instant results. If a pulse ox. reading is low then the caregiver would likely apply oxygen to the patient. If it is a high reading the caregiver would likely remove or decrease the amount of oxygen the patient is on. Because there are factors that can interfere with an accurate reading, there are other ways to test the oxygen levels in the blood.