Treatments

Question 1

O2 therapy: what is it?

Answer 1

Administering oxygen at higher % than 21% in air around us to treat or prevent hypoxaemia

Prescribed to target sats range

Does not treat underlying cause

Question 2

What are normal O2 sats?

Answer 2

96%+
For COPD: 88-92%

Question 3

Why do we not want COPD patients to go over 92%?

Answer 3

Normal: peripheral chemoreceptors respond to high levels of co2 to tell the central control to increase breathing and low 02

In COPD they have a hypoxic drive:
- too hard to breath enough to stay in normal levels

• chemoreceptors for co2 stop responding
• chemoreceptors only respond to low o2 in the blood
• so co2 is always high and o2 is low = this is their normal and how the chemoreceptors will keep sending signals that they need to breath

Question 4

What 5 things cause hypoxaemia

Answer 4

1. Shunt
2. Dead space
3. Hypoventilation
4. Diffusion abnormality (PF)
5. Reduced FiO2 (fraction of inhaled oxygen)

Question 5

Indications for o2 therapy

Answer 5

Hypoxaemia (<8kpa. <80%)
Severe trauma
Acute MI
Post anaesthesia
Decrease workload as a result of hypoxaemia

Question 6

What are the variable o2 therapy masks?

Answer 6

• non re-breathe
• simple face mask
• nasal cannula

Question 7

What are non variable masks

Answer 7

Venturi
Nasal high flow

Question 8

What does a Venturi mask do?

Answer 8

Pre-mixes air with oxygen being delivered through holes in the device that draws in surrounding air