High concentration oxygen therapy in acute respiratory disease

Uncontrolled oxygen is often administered to breathless patients regardless of whether hypoxaemia is present. In acute exacerbations of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (AECOPD) this may result in carbon dioxide (CO2) retention and worsening respiratory failure in some patients. In AECOPD the main mechanism is the release of hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction and an increase in the physiological dead space to tidal volume ratio (VD/VT). Acute asthma and pneumonia have features in common with AECOPD, namely significant ventilation – perfusion mismatch; and there is the potential for CO2 retention to occur if uncontrolled high concentration oxygen is given. There have been no randomised controlled trials of oxygen therapy in pneumonia and only one in asthma. The potential mechanisms of any change in arterial CO2 that may occur with oxygen therapy in respiratory disorders other than COPD remain uncertain. This thesis presents work from three clinical studies. In two randomised controlled trials, high concentration oxygen was compared to titrated oxygen therapy in patients with either acute severe asthma and suspected community acquired pneumonia. Oxygen was administered for one hour in conjunction with standard medical treatment. Transcutaneous CO2 (PtCO2) was continuously monitored and the number of patients with pre-specified increases in PtCO2 were calculated. The proportion of patients with a rise in PtCO2 4 mmHg was significantly higher in the high concentration oxygen groups of both studies. In the pneumonia study 36/72 (50.0%) vs 11/75 (14.7%) met this endpoint, with a relative risk of 3.4 (95% CI 1.9 to 6.2; P