When is liquid oxygen really needed?
Liquid oxygen is a synonym for portable oxygen, as it combines a big cylinder with an easy-to-fill portable unit, suitable for exercise and use out-doors. The main drawback is its high cost, inherent in a home delivery system, which discouraged many nations from its introduction. The best candidates are patients able to move, who are still active and do not have psychological reticence to its use in public. Transtracheal systems and the advantage of a round the clock treatment and a reduction of flow rate, crucial both to lengthen the autonomy of portable units and to avoid flows higher than 4 L.min-1, which cannot be maintained. Finally, patients on liquid oxygen usually have a better adherence to treatment, mainly compared to those using a concentrator, possibly improving its effectiveness, which is notoriously dependent on total usage per day.
Donner
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Division of Pulmonary Disease, Medical Center of Rehabilitation, IRCCS, Veruno, Italy.
Braghiroli
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D006801:Humans; D008173:Lung Diseases, Obstructive / Q000628:therapy; D010102:Oxygen Inhalation Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D012121:Respiration, Artificial / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D012122:Ventilators, Mechanical / Q000639:trends*