What is the effectiveness of domiciliary oxygen therapy in people with advanced heart failure?
Current British Thoracic Society guidelines (2015)142 state that only hypoxaemic patients with PO2 below 7.3kpa or 8 (with peripheral oedema, polycythaemia or pulmonary hypertension) should receive any form of home oxygen therapy except for a specific group with sleep disordered breathing. They specifically state that palliative oxygen therapy should not be provided to non hypoxaemic or mildly hypoxaemic patients. However, the evidence base for these recommendations was limited, so an up-to date review of the literature in this area is warranted.