New recommendations for oxygen therapy in acutely ill adults in Denmark

On the 20th of November, the Danish Health Authority (Sundhedsstyrelsen) has published a national clinical guideline for the oxygen therapy of acutely ill adult patients.

Oxygen therapy, also known as supplemental oxygen, is the use of oxygen as a medical treatment. However, it can have potentially life-threatening side effects.

Medical oxygen is today one of the most widely used treatments in acutely ill patients. The treatment is used both in hospitals and in prehospital care, e.g., in ambulances, and over half of the acutely ill adult patients are treated with oxygen to prevent or treat low oxygen saturation in the blood. The new guideline will raise health care providers' awareness of oxygen therapy as a medical treatment.

The new guideline distinguishes between acutely ill adult patients with normal oxygen saturation and those with reduced oxygen saturation. It provides recommendations not to treat acutely ill adult patients with normal oxygen saturation, while acutely ill patients with reduced oxygen saturation should continue to be treated with oxygen. Oxygen therapy should always be adjusted to avoid excessively high levels of oxygen in the blood.

The guideline is based on a UK guideline "Oxygen therapy for acutely ill medical patients: a clinical practice guideline" and is adapted to Danish conditions.

The guideline in Danish can be found here.

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