Today’s sophisticated bedside clinical monitoring systems generate data that enable health care providers to improve patient outcomes through informed decisions. There is a lack of randomized clinical trials to demonstrate improved outcomes for patients receiving continuous ST-segment monitoring compared to those who do not. However, there are studies demonstrating that continuous ST-segment monitoring enables early identification of ischemia. In critically ill adults, as many as 90% of all episodes of myocardial ischemia are missed.1 

Continuous ST-segment monitoring is underused. We know barriers to the adoption of this technology include the following: lack of awareness of the benefits, lack of education specific to continuous ST-segment monitoring, an increase in nuisance alarms, absence of organizational or unit protocols, and confusion over the most appropriate lead selection.

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