[Long terme oxygen therapy in chronic respiratory diseases]

LONG TERM OXYGEN THERAPY IN CHRONIC RESPIRATORY DISEASES. Survival of severe chronic respiratory failure with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is improved by long-term oxygen therapy. Other benefits exist for COPD and other causes of chronic respiratory failure. The indications for this restrictive (more 15 hours per day) treatment require measurements of arterial blood gases in adults. Several actors are involved: the specialist for the prescription, the service provider for supplying and maintaining the equipment, the patient and his entourage, the referring doctor to ensure that oxygen therapy is well tolerated and used. The referring doctor can prescribe short-term oxygen therapy for transient respiratory failure. The choice of oxygen source depends on the patient's ability to ambulate and the required flow rate. Concentrators are increasingly used, despite limited flow rate with mobile devices. Liquid oxygen makes it possible to deliver high flow rates but is expensive. The main complications of oxygen therapy are the worsening of chronic hypercapnia, burns (especially in active smokers)...