Lower oxygenation target does not reduce mortality in acute hypoxemic respiratory failure: NEJM

Denmark: A lower oxygenation target in patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure in the ICU did not result in lower mortality versus higher target at 90 days, finds a recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine. 

Acute hypoxemic respiratory failure patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) are treated with supplemental oxygen but there is no clarity on the benefits and harms of different oxygenation targets. Olav L Schjørring, the department of anesthesia and intensive care at Aalborg University Hospital at Aalborg University in Denmark, and colleagues hypothesized that using a lower target for partial pressure of arterial oxygen (Pao2) would result in lower mortality than using a higher target.

The researchers conducted a multicenter trial which included 2928 adult patients who had recently been admitted to the ICU (≤12 hours before randomization) and who were receiving at least 10 liters of oxygen per minute in an open system or had a fraction of inspired oxygen of at least 0.50 in a closed system. They were randomly assigned to receive oxygen therapy targeting a Pao2 of either 60 mm Hg (lower-oxygenation group) or 90 mm Hg (higher-oxygenation group) for a maximum of 90 days. The primary outcome was death within 90 days.