Objective To compare the effects of oxygen therapy and local pressurization in alleviating plateau hypoxia at high altitude. Methods Forty-five healthy male soldiers were investigated at an altitude of 3992 meters. The subjects were randomly divided into three groups, ie. an oxygen inhalation group, a single-soldier oxygen increasing respirator ( SOIR) group and a BiPAP group. The oxygen inhalation group was treated with oxygen inhalation via nasal catheter at 2 L/ min. SOIR was used to assist breath in the SOIR group. The BiPAP group were treated with bi-level positive airway pressure ventilation, with IPAP of 10 cm H2O and EPAP of 4 cmH2 O. PaO2, PaCO2, SpO2 and heart rate were measured before and 30 minutes after the treatment. Results There were continuous increase of PaO2 from ( 53. 30 ±4. 88) mm Hg to( 58. 58 ±5. 05) mm Hg and ( 54. 43 ±3. 01) mm Hg to ( 91. 36 ±10. 99) mm Hg after BiPAP ventilation and oxygen inhalation, respectively ( both P lt; 0. 01) . However, the PaO2 of the SOIR group was decreased from( 56. 00 ±5. 75) mm Hg to ( 50. 82 ±5. 40) mm Hg( P lt; 0. 05 ) . In the other hand, the PaCO2 was increased from ( 30. 41 ±1. 51) mmHg to ( 32. 56 ±2. 98) mm Hg in the oxygen inhalation group ( P lt; 0. 05) , declined from( 28. 74 ±2. 91) mm Hg to ( 25. 82 ±4. 35) mm Hg in the BiPAP group( P lt;0. 05) ,and didn’t change significantly from( 28. 65 ±2. 78) mm Hg to ( 29. 75 ±3. 89) mmHg in the SOIR group ( P gt;0. 05) . Conclusions Both BiPAP ventilation and oxygen inhalation can alleviate plateau hypoxia by improving PaO2 at 3992 meter altitude while SOIR has no significant effect.
Citation: SUN Liang,CHE Jie,ZHANG Jianpeng,LI Shengming,LIU Jianhua,FAN Haojun,KE Ying,MA Yixian,LIU Yuliang.. Comparative Study of Oxygen and Pressure Support Therapy on Plateau Hypoxia at an Altitude of 3992 Meters. Chinese Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 2009, 09(4): 392-395. doi: Copy