TY - JOUR T1 - Assessments for oxygen therapy in COPD: are we under correcting arterial oxygen tensions? JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J SP - 954 LP - 957 DO - 10.1183/09031936.04.00089504 VL - 24 IS - 6 AU - K. Dheda AU - K. Lim AU - B. Ollivere AU - J. Leftley AU - F.C. Lampe AU - A. Salisbury AU - J.P. Dilworth AU - R.K. Rajakulasingum Y1 - 2004/12/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/24/6/954.abstract N2 - 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 (Pa,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 Pa,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. ER -