Oxygen should not be routinely given to heart attack patients, says charity

16 June 2010

The British Heart Foundation supports current recommendations that oxygen should not be routinely given to heart attack patients, because there may be no real benefit to the treatment.

Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said:

"Current UK guidelines recommend oxygen is not given to everyone who has a heart attack, only those people whose oxygen levels fall below a certain point.

"This review of three small studies does not show that oxygen causes either harm or benefit to heart attack patients, but highlights the need for more research into the effects of oxygen when it is given during a heart attack.

"Until recently, heart attack patients were routinely treated with oxygen but we simply don't have enough evidence to know if that treatment is beneficial or harmful."

Notes:

Statement issued in response to 'Oxygen therapy for acute myocardial infarction (Review)' published in The Cochrane Library, JB Cabello, et al, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010, Issue 6. Art. No.: CD007160. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD007160.pub2.

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