Is supplemental oxygen an effective?

David Jiménez

Hospital Ramón y Cajal, Madrid, Spain

Pulmonary embolism is a relatively common disease affecting approximately one in 1,000 people each year in high-income countries. It occurs when a clot forms in a venous area of the body, usually in a deep vein in the leg, which then travels to the pulmonary artery and blocks blood flow. If left untreated, pulmonary embolism can be fatal.

The vast majority of patients are treated with anticoagulants to prevent the clot from growing and to stop new clots forming. In cases where the risk to the patient's life is high, drugs called fibrinolytics are used to dissolve clots in the pulmonary arteries. The most significant side effect of these drugs is severe bleeding, for example, in the brain.

Some pilot studies have suggested that administering supplemental oxygen to the patient with severe pulmonary embolism could relieve pulmonary obstruction without the risk of bleeding associated with the use of fibrinolytics. The project team aims to study whether the administration of supplemental oxygen to patients with acute pulmonary embolism is effective and safe. This will be done by conducting a clinical trial involving patients with intermediate severity pulmonary embolism and assessing whether their prognosis improves with supplemental oxygen. The results of this research could change current treatment guidelines for the disease.

Registry-based randomized trial to determine the role of Oxygen in acute Pulmonary Embolism

€499,999.00