Oxygen therapy targets in post cardiac arrest patients with hypoxic respiratory failure.

It is plausible that both abnormally low and high levels of arterial oxygen worsen brain injury in patients who are at risk of hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy. On the one hand, the brain is an oxygen-dependent organ that is exquisitely sensitive to even relatively brief periods of oxygen deprivation, 1 Schurr A. Rigor B.M. Brain anaerobic lactate production: a suicide note or a survival kit?. Dev Neurosci. 1998; 20: 348-357 Crossref PubMed Scopus (90) Google Scholar and on the other, liberal use of oxygen may exacerbate the oxidative stress that occurs as part of a reperfusion injury after restoration of the circulation. 2 Sekhon M.S. Ainslie P.N. Griesdale D.E. Clinical pathophysiology of hypoxic ischemic brain injury after cardiac arrest: a “two-hit” model. Crit Care. 2017; 21: 90 Crossref PubMed Scopus (285) Google Scholar Overall, while supplemental oxygen is a ubiquitous therapy for patients after cardiac arrest, the optimal oxygen regimen is uncertain.