HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) An erratum has been published Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (5) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Dheda, K. Articles by Rajakulasingum, R.K. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Dheda, K. Articles by Rajakulasingum, R.K.

Assessments for oxygen therapy in COPD: are we under correcting arterial oxygen tensions?

¹ Dept of Thoracic and HIV Medicine, Royal Free and UCL Medical School, Royal Free Hospital NHS Trust, ² Dept of Thoracic Medicine/Allergy, Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and ³ Dept Primary Care and Population Sciences, Royal Free and UCL Medical School, London, UK

CORRESPONDENCE: K. Dheda, Dept of Respiratory and HIV Medicine, Royal Free Hospital, Pond Street, London, UK. Fax: 44 2076368175. E-mail: k.dheda@ucl.ac.uk

Keywords: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, concentrator, long-term oxygen therapy, oxygen assessment

Received: July 29, 2004
Accepted August 3, 2004

There is little data about the use of different oxygen sources during assessment for long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT) and how this impacts upon blood oxygen tensions and prescribed flow rates.

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), n=30, had assessments for LTOT using both an oxygen-concentrator and piped hospital oxygen (wall-oxygen) as supply sources. In addition, a random survey of 64 hospitals was conducted to determine what source of oxygen supply was used during assessments.

Wall-oxygen was used by 89% of hospitals to perform assessments. During assessments, the median oxygen flow required to achieve an arterial oxygen tension (P_a,O2) >8 kPa was significantly greater for an oxygen-concentrator than for wall-oxygen, with a median difference (range) in flow of 1 (0–3) L. This difference was most likely in those with an forced expiratory volume <30% of predicted. At an oxygen flow of 1 L·min^–1, the mean P_a,O2 using an oxygen-concentrator was significantly lower than that of the wall-oxygen value, with a difference of 1.32±1.19 kPa (mean±SD).

The common practice of using wall-oxygen to perform assessments significantly underestimates the required oxygen-concentrator flow rate. This may have implications for the long-term effect of domiciliary oxygen therapy.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				G J Gibson Oxygen treatment at home BMJ, January 28, 2006; 332(7535): 191 - 192. [Full Text] [PDF]