R.E.B.E.L.EM . 12, 3, 2015 - By Allan Guiney / Post Peer Reviewed By: Salim Rezaie
Background: It’s common practice to give carefully titrated supplemental oxygen therapy for patients in COPD exacerbation. We give enough O2 to prevent hypoxemia, but not so much that it causes hypoventilation or dangerous hypercarbia. If you’re like me then you’ve probably heard a number of conflicting theories as to WHY overzealous supplemental oxygen leads to bad outcomes in these patients.
Does hyperoxia suppress a COPD patient’s respiratory drive? Does it cause V/Q mismatching? Does it change the chemistry of the patient’s blood through the Haldane effect? It’s enough to make you want to give up and page respiratory therapy. Well lucky for you we sifted through the primary literature to bring you the myths and facts, and the short answer is…it’s complicated.
http://rebelem.com/is-too-much-supplemental-o2-harmful-in-copd-exacerbations