Katana VentraIP

Oxygen therapy

Oxygen therapy, also referred to as supplemental oxygen, is the use of oxygen as medical treatment.[1] Supplemental oxygen can also refer to the use of oxygen enriched air at altitude. Acute indications for therapy include hypoxemia (low blood oxygen levels), carbon monoxide toxicity and cluster headache. It may also be prophylactically given to maintain blood oxygen levels during the induction of anesthesia.[2] Oxygen therapy is often useful in chronic hypoxemia caused by conditions such as severe COPD or cystic fibrosis.[3][1] Oxygen can be delivered via nasal cannula, face mask, or endotracheal intubation at normal atmospheric pressure, or in a hyperbaric chamber.[4][5] It can also be given through bypassing the airway, such as in ECMO therapy.

Clinical data

supplemental oxygen, enriched air

FDA Professional Drug Information

inhaled

medical gas

  • none

O2

Oxygen is required for normal cellular metabolism.[6] However, excessively high concentrations can result in oxygen toxicity, leading to lung damage and respiratory failure.[2][7] Higher oxygen concentrations can also increase the risk of airway fires, particularly while smoking.[1] Oxygen therapy can also dry out the nasal mucosa without humidification.[1] In most conditions, an oxygen saturation of 94–96% is adequate, while in those at risk of carbon dioxide retention, saturations of 88–92% are preferred.[1][8] In cases of carbon monoxide toxicity or cardiac arrest, saturations should be as high as possible.[1][8] While air is typically 21% oxygen by volume, oxygen therapy can increase O2 content of air up to 100%.[7]


The medical use of oxygen first became common around 1917, and is the most common hospital treatment in the developed world.[1][9][10][11] It is currently on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines.[11] Home oxygen can be provided either by oxygen tanks or oxygen concentrator.[1]

Oxygen therapy can exacerbate the effects of and should be withheld unless severe respiratory distress or respiratory arrest is present. Paraquat poisoning is rare, with about 200 deaths globally from 1958 to 1978.[28]

paraquat poisoning

Oxygen therapy is not recommended for people with or bleomycin-associated lung damage.[29]

pulmonary fibrosis

caused by acid aspiration may be exacerbated with oxygen therapy according to some animal studies.[30][31]

ARDS

Hyperoxic environments should be avoided in cases of sepsis.

Pin-indexed Oxygen Regulator for portable D-Cylinder, usually carried in an ambulance's resuscitation kit

[20]

 – Gas used for human respiration

Breathing gas

 – Drug delivery device

Nebulizer

 – Method to mechanically assist or replace spontaneous breathing

Mechanical ventilation

 – Medical treatment at raised ambient pressure

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy

 – Establishment that sells oxygen for on-site recreational use

Oxygen bar

 – Services providing acute medical care

Emergency medical services

 – Practitioner in cardio-pulmonary medicine

Respiratory therapist

 – Canopy over a patient to provide supplemental oxygen

Oxygen tent

 – Safety mechanism designed to extinguish a fire in a medical oxygen delivery tube

Oxygen firebreak

 – Equipment which allows the user to breathe at hypoxic altitudes

Bottled oxygen (climbing)

- Early use of oxygen therapy in the U.S. as an effective approach to rehabilitation for COPD patients.

Redento D. Ferranti

Kallstrom TJ (June 2002). . Respiratory Care. 47 (6): 717–20. PMID 12078655.

"AARC Clinical Practice Guideline: oxygen therapy for adults in the acute care facility--2002 revision & update"

Cahill Lambert AE (November 2005). "Adult domiciliary oxygen therapy: a patient's perspective". The Medical Journal of Australia. 183 (9): 472–3. :10.5694/j.1326-5377.2005.tb07125.x. PMID 16274348. S2CID 77689244.

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