Peripheral venous oxygen saturation (SpvO₂), derived from a non-invasive peripheral venous blood gas (VBG) sample, reflects the balance between systemic oxygen delivery and consumption. Despite its physiological relevance, its prognostic utility for early in-hospital mortality in the emergency department (ED) has not been systematically evaluated. This single center retrospective observational study enrolled adult patients (≥ 18 years) who presented to the ED of a tertiary academic teaching hospital for medical reasons and underwent VBG analysis within the first hour of arrival between January 2020 and December 2024. Patients with cardiac arrest on arrival, trauma or external-cause presentations, SpO₂ 4) and supplemental oxygen use. Of 69,827 screened patients, 20,967 met inclusion criteria; 119 (0.58%) died within 24 h. Mean SpvO₂ was significantly lower in non-survivors than survivors (40.3 ± 23.1% vs. 47.2 ± 17.9%; p 4) and supplemental oxygen use. SpvO₂ is an independent prognostic marker of 24 h in-hospital mortality in ED patients across a broad range of illness severities. Although its standalone discriminative performance is modest, combining SpvO₂ with lactate and NEWS substantially improves risk stratification.
Shin et al. (Sat,) studied this question.