Adequate oxygenation is vital for promoting the correct internal environment and energy production necessary for maintaining life. If insufficient oxygenation occurs, oxygen supplementation of the inhaled air is essential. Oxygen supplementation today is a fundamental part of medicine. In all patients showing signs or symptoms of hypoxia, oxygen enrichment of the inhaled air is a basic symptomatic maneuver that should be instituted as fast as possible.
Of course, oxygen therapy is just one part of treating patients with signs and or symptoms of hypoxia. It is important to determine and to treat the underlying reason for insufficient oxygenation. For example, pneumonia should be treated with antibiotics and physiotherapy, heart failure should receive proper drug therapy or if needed surgical interventions to restore as adequate myocardial function as possible. The oxygen therapy should be continued until proper oxygenation can be achieved from room air.
In patients with severe asthma and COPD (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), oxygen supplementation may be needed for up to 24 hours a day over the patient’s lifetime.
Quality assurance, logistics and dynamic and flexible technical solutions are of major importance, especially for users of medicinal oxygen. An interest in and an understanding of individual demands for a maximal flexible and dynamic life style is of the utmost importance to patients with life-long oxygen supplementation requirements.