Hyperoxic damage and the need for optimised oxygenation practices

Excerpt

Congratulations to Cornet and colleagues [1] for their article questioning the use of supplemental oxygen in medical emergencies. They raise the issue that although high-dose oxygen is the initial management for many conditions, data that hyperoxia may produce harmful effects continue to accumulate [1, 2]. Additional to the poorer outcomes presented by the authors [1], increased mortality and morbidity are also seen in traumatic brain injury, asphyxiated neonates and cardiopulmonary bypass [2]. Clearly this is not only an issue for emergency care, but any area of medicine where supranormal oxygen tensions are experienced. In the critical care setting, use of extracorporeal life support devices such as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for cardiorespiratory support may expose patients to unprecedented partial pressures of oxygen (even far above mechanical ventilation) [3, 4]. …