Whether emphysema needs long-term oxygen therapy should be combined with the specific situation, such as the combination of chronic respiratory failure, or even chronic pneumoconiosis heart disease, long-term oxygen therapy is needed; otherwise, long-term oxygen therapy is generally not needed.
1. If long-term oxygen therapy is needed, such as patients with persistent hypoxemia, oxygen saturation below 88%, chronic respiratory failure, conduction pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary heart disease, etc., long-term oxygen therapy can improve the symptoms and slow down the progress of the disease.
2. Long-term oxygen therapy is not necessary, if the patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease do not have persistent hypoxemia, chronic respiratory failure, etc., generally do not need long-term home oxygen therapy. However, when the patient’s condition worsens and is accompanied by symptoms of chest tightness, short-term inhalation of oxygen can help improve the symptoms.
To summarize, patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease need to go to the respiratory medicine department to assess the hypoxia status of the patient, and through blood gas analysis and other related tests, to comprehensively assess whether long-term oxygen intake is needed.