Oxygen therapy is a practice that consists of administering O2 in the air that a patient breathes through the use of nasal masks or goggles. This type of practice is used when a patient has a significant decrease in oxygen pressure in the blood, to reduce work or respiratory effort, to reduce the work of the myocardium when pulmonary hypertension occurs, or in the case of patients with grave prognosis requiring help to breathe.
When administering oxygen therapy, it is essential to be aware of certain concepts; one of them is FiO2. If you wonder what FiO2 is, keep reading because in this FastlyHealarticle we will explain it to you.
FiO2 concept
A term used within oxygen therapy defines the percentage of inspired oxygen that the patient receives. FiO2 is the portion of O2 that is contained in the supplied gas.
This portion is expressed in two ways:
- In percentage, from 21 to 100%. It is measured from 21% because it is the amount of oxygen present in the ambient air.
- Over 1, from 0.21 to 1.
Oxygen therapy consists of administering oxygen to a patient in a concentration more significant than that found in the environment to increase the amount of oxygen in the blood and avoid tissue damage due to lack of it. To assess the oxygen concentration present in the patient’s blood, the healthcare professional can use the pulse oximeter or use an arterial blood gas to determine it.
In addition to FiO2, the person administering oxygen therapy must also be aware of another value, flow, which determines the amount of gas delivered to the patient. The flow is expressed in liters per minute.
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