17.02.5 Oxygen

Oxygen gas can be considered as a medicine. Under certain circumstances, oxygen gas is a very effective medicine. It is used in hypoxic hypoxia e.g. airway obstruction, where lack of respiration is the cause of the lack of oxygen. Oxygen gas is also used in ischemic hypoxia, where there is a lack of supply of oxygen and nutrients supplied by the blood vessels e.g. atherosclerosis and thromboembolism. Oxygen gas can be administered either by inhalation with catheters up the nose, or using a mask that covers nose and mouth. Low concentration are used in COPD, as the levels of carbon dioxide are high, but when the levels of carbon dioxide are low, higher concentration can and are used to treat hypoxic hypoxia and ischemic hypoxia.