RESUMO
The authors analyze the role of the initial inpatient stage of long-term oxygen therapy (LOT) in combined treatment of chronic pulmonary failure in patients with chronic obstructive bronchitis, lung emphysema, and pneumosclerosis. The treatment lasted 30 days both in the main and in the control groups. In addition to basic therapy, the main group patients received 38% O2 for 15 h a day. To decrease the risk of PaCO2 elevation with a possible respiratory disorder, particularly in patients with initial hypercapnia, it is suggested that a special oxygen test with simultaneous control of acid-base balance and gas composition of the arterial blood may be carried out. In contrast to the control group, the main group patients demonstrated an improvement of gas composition of the arterial blood and of the parameters such as the alveolar-arterial gradient according to O2, the physiological pulmonary shunt. The combined use of oxygen therapy and resistance at expiration made it possible to ameliorate a number of external respiration function parameters, diffusion lung capacity, and enhanced the effect of oxygen therapy. It is shown that patients with PaO2 may be given LOT within the range of 60-69 mm Hg, provided the pulmonary physiological shunt exceeds 20%.