Comparative Evaluation of Oxygen Therapy Techniques

Although oxygen is an important and commonly used therapeutic agent, no definitive comparisons of the several techniques of oxygen administration have previously been reported. This study compared, by uniform methods in 15 subjects, the relative oxygen concentrations achieved at various oxygen flow rates, the CO2concentrations developed, and the comfort of the various techniques of oxygen administration in current clinical use. Of particular interest was the fact that the oxygen concentrations achieved by either the nasal catheter or the nasal cannula did not differ significantly, whether the subject breathed through his mouth or his nose. An over-all evaluation of these techniques provided the following order of preference: (1) nasal cannula, (2) plastic face masks, (3) nasal catheter, (4) plastic face tent, (5) rubber oronasal masks, and (6) oxygen tent.