Podcast #380: Oxygen for the kill

Author: Ryan Circh, MD

Educational Pearls:

• Review of 25 randomized control trials encompassing 16,037 acutely ill hospitalized patients
• Patients given oxygen with saturations > 94% on room air were found to have associated increased mortality in-hospital, at 30-days, and at long-term follow up
• It may seem intuitive, but do not give oxygen to patients that do not need it

References:

Chu DK, et al (2018). Mortality and morbidity in acutely ill adults treated with liberal versus conservative oxygen therapy (IOTA): a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet. 391(10131):1693-1705