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Oxygen therapy for dyspnoea in adults
Josephine M Cranston1, Alan Crockett, David Currow
1Discipline of General Practice, School of Population Health and Clinical Practice, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, 5005. josephine.cranston@adelaide.edu.au
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
|July 23, 2008
Summary
Oxygen therapy did not consistently relieve dyspnoea in patients with chronic terminal illness. Further research is needed due to limitations in existing studies on oxygen for breathlessness.
Area of Science:
- Palliative Care
- Respiratory Medicine
- Clinical Trials
Background:
- Dyspnoea (distressing breathing) is a severe symptom in terminal illness, often difficult to manage.
- Oxygen therapy is a common intervention for dyspnoea in palliative care.
- This review synthesizes evidence on oxygen therapy's effectiveness for dyspnoea in chronic terminal illness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if oxygen therapy provides additional dyspnoea relief compared to room air or placebo in non-acute settings.
- To evaluate oxygen therapy for patients with chronic end-stage diseases.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published up to April 2006.
- Included unblinded studies involving participants with cancer, cardiac failure, or kyphoscoliosis.
- Data extraction by one reviewer, checked by another; limited meta-analysis due to study heterogeneity.
Main Results:
- Eight RCTs with 144 participants (97 cancer, 35 cardiac failure, 12 kyphoscoliosis) were included.
- Oxygen inhalation showed no consistent benefit over air inhalation for dyspnoea in end-stage cancer or cardiac failure.
- Some cancer patients reported subjective improvement with oxygen, but findings were not statistically significant.
Conclusions:
- The available research failed to demonstrate a consistent benefit of oxygen therapy over air for dyspnoea in cancer or cardiac failure.
- Limitations include a small number of studies, small participant numbers, and methodological variations.
- Further high-quality research is required to clarify the role of oxygen therapy in palliative dyspnoea management.
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