Oxygen therapy is commonly used to treat a variety of medical conditions including heart attack, emphysema, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, and other hypoxic conditions where the cells are deprived of oxygenation for various reasons, according to The Medical News. However, oxygen therapy must be carefully prescribed and administered as it is important to weigh its benefits and risks. For instance, oxygen administration may worsen some conditions and may even trigger side effects.
Heart damage
According to Science Daily, it is common practice to administer oxygen during a heart attack to promote oxygenation of heart tissue. However, there is mounting evidence that administration of oxygen to treat a heart attack may not only provide little relief or healing, it may actually cause further coronary damage. In a three-trial study at Oxford, 387 cardiac patients were studied. Half were given pure oxygen, and half were given room air for 24 hours after the onset of heart attack symptoms. According to Science Daily, 14 study participants who were given oxygen during the 24-hour heart attack period died. This is significant, as that number is three times the number of deaths in the group that did not receive oxygen. More study is needed before a conclusion is made, though it appears that administration of oxygen to acutely ill heart attack patients may be contraindicated.
Seizures
According to The Medical News, high doses of oxygen delivered to patients via the hyperbaric oxygen chamber may cause seizures due to oxygen toxicity. It is important for health care professionals to take seizure precautions, such as close monitoring, providing the patient with careful instructions to alert staff in the event they experience a seizure aura or warning, and keeping an airway at the bedside when administering oxygen in high doses, especially for any patient with a known seizure disorder.
Loss of respiratory drive
Administration of oxygen to patients with COPD is controversial, as it runs the risk of diminishing respiratory drive and the subsequent accumulation of carbon dioxide even when oxygen is administered in moderate concentration. However, according to The Medical News, the benefits outweigh the risks of oxygen administration for most patients living with COPD.
Infant blindness
Preterm infants are often placed on a ventilator to deliver oxygen directly into their lungs and concurrently given surfactant, as their lungs are immature and unable to function properly. According to an article published in Science Daily, infant blindness may occur from exposure to high concentrations of oxygen administered to preterm babies. However, though this side effect of oxygen therapy is severe, the benefits of oxygen therapy for preterm infants outweigh the risk of withholding oxygen. Optimal oxygen saturation in the blood for preterm babies appears to be approximately 85 percent to help prevent blindness.
