Basic Principles of Oxygen Therapy, Specialty Gases and Noninvasive Ventilation

Oxygen is classified as a drug because, like a drug, it has distinct physiologic and biochemical actions, effective dosing ranges and well-defined adverse effects when used in high doses. When used as a therapeutic agent, oxygen plays a decisive role in correcting tissue hypoxia, improving myocardial function and accelerating tissue repair through its antiseptic effect in the anti-inflammatory response. Frequent use of oxygen, in comparison to other therapeutic agents, is due to its easy availability and relatively inexpensive material cost. This course introduces the various modes of oxygen delivery and noninvasive respiratory support measures commonly used to manage the pediatric patient's oxygen needs. The purpose and safe administration of common specialty gases is also discussed.

What You Will Learn

• Explain the use of oxygen as a therapeutic agent as well as its risks and hazards.
• State the indications, contraindications, and risks of the following modes of oxygen delivery: Nasal cannula, Masks, High-flow nasal cannula.
• Describe the use of CPAP and BiPAP as noninvasive respiratory support modalities for treating oxygen refractory hypoxemia.
• Describe the purpose and safe administration of common specialty gases used in neonatal-pediatric respiratory care.

Additional Information

Children's Hospital Association has made Continuing Education (CE) credit available for this activity. Please open the module and select Info for available certificate details.