Delirium and Coma Precipitated by Oxygen in Bronchial Asthma Complicated by Respiratory Acidosis

Abstract

ALTHOUGH the hazards of many therapeutic procedures are reasonably well known, clinicians need to be reminded occasionally that measures thought to be perfectly safe may be dangerous under certain special circumstances. Oxygen in high concentrations, as often administered to patients with a variety of respiratory, cardiovascular and neuromuscular conditions, may at times be more harmful than beneficial. From the manner in which oxygen is prescribed, however, one would doubt that its potentially deleterious effects are widely recognized, although they have been known for some time.Oxygen given in high concentrations (50 to 100 per cent) for long periods may be . . .