Question 22: List 3 goals of oxygen therapy:

Answer

The primary clinical goals of oxygen therapy are to maintain adequate tissue oxygenation while minimizing cardiopulmonary work. Specifically, the three main goals are: 1) Treat hypoxemia: By increasing the alveolar and blood oxygen levels, therapy corrects low oxygen content in the blood. 2) Decrease the symptoms associated with chronic hypoxemia: This helps relieve dyspnea (shortness of breath) and can improve mental alertness and overall comfort. 3) Decrease the workload hypoxemia imposes on the cardiopulmonary system: Supplemental oxygen reduces the need for the heart to pump faster (decreasing compensatory tachycardia) and the lungs to work harder (reducing increased minute ventilation) to meet the body's oxygen demands. It also helps reduce right ventricular workload by alleviating pulmonary vasoconstriction.