The use of oxygen therapy in the outpatient and inpatient setting

Oxygen is the most commonly used drug in emergency medicine. Treating potentially harmful hypoxaemia is a key element in successful resuscitation for many critically ill patients. If supplemental oxygen is used inappropriately it can be useless and it can have significant detrimental effects.The British Thoracic Society has published up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines for emergency oxygen use in order to encourage the safe use of oxygen in emergency situations and improve quality of clinical practice. The purpose of this article is to familiarize anesthesiologists, emergency medicine physicians, and other health care professionals with new recommendations, so that in cases of urgency they would not have the dilemma whether to apply oxygen, in what way and in which concentration.