An assessment of postoperative oxygen therapy in patients with fractured neck of femur.

Arterial oxygen tension was studied in sixty patients with fractured neck of femur. The mean preoperative arterial oxygen tension was 63.7 mmHg (SD 12.8). Half of the patients received nasal oxygen for five days postoperatively. In these patients, mean arterial oxygen tension was greater at all times than preoperative values, and exceeded values in those not receiving oxygen in whom no change in oxygen tension occurred until an increase on the fifth postoperative day.