Abstract

CODINARDO, Carlos et al. Recomendaciones sobre el uso de oxigenoterapia en situaciones especiales. Rev. am. med. respir. [online]. 2016, vol.16, n.2, pp.150-162. ISSN 1852-236X.

The severe chronic hypoxemia is defined as an arterial partial oxygen pressure measuring less than 60 mmHg. Oxygen therapy is defined as the therapeutic use of oxygen; it consists in oxygen administration at higher concentrations than room air concentrations, to prevent or treat hypoxia. The right use of oxygen therapy has clearly shown to improve survival in hypoxemic chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. It is well known that long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT) is the only treatment that has been proved to improve the late course of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Specially, two landmark studies, the Nocturnal Oxygen Therapy Trial (NOTT) and the British Medical Research Council (MRC) study conducted in the late 1970s have clearly demonstrated that LTOT (when used for more than 15hours/day) improves survival rates in patients with severe COPD associated with hypoxemia at rest. Although this concept has been extended by analogy to chronic respiratory failure caused by respiratory and non-respiratory diseases, continuous oxygen therapy has not been shown to be equally effective in other disorders. Because of 25% of patients who receive oxygen therapy do not have COPD with hypoxemia, the Argentine Association of Respiratory Medicine established a task force of pneumonologists to recommend guidelines about oxygen therapy in “special situations”, based on the level of evidence of the Grades System.

Keywords : Oxygen therapy; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. LTOT.

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