Diop Sylvain, Mounier Roman
Department of Anesthesiology, Marie Lannelongue Hospital, Le Plessis Robinson, France.
Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit, Marie Lannelongue Hospital, Le Plessis Robinson, France.
Med Gas Res. 2026 Mar 1;16(1):53-58. doi: 10.4103/mgr.MEDGASRES-D-25-00028. Epub 2025 Jun 28.
In clinical studies, the partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2) and oxygen pulse saturation are the main variables used to assess blood oxygenation and define the threshold of hypoxia/hyperoxia and hypoxemia/hyperoxemia. Determination of the optimal oxygenation target has generated a lot of interest in recent years, mainly because of the potential risk of worse outcomes associated with hyperoxia, whereas the risk associated with hypoxia has been already well known. In this short narrative review, we recall some fundamental elements of physiology regarding the meaning of PaO2, the diffusion of oxygen to cells, the definitions of hyperoxemia and hyperoxia and the mechanisms of oxygen toxicity to provide a better understanding of these concepts, to which intensive care clinicians are frequently confronted. PaO2 provides only limited information about oxygen concentration carried by blood and does not allow to determine whether cells are exposed to hyperoxia. This should be considered for the design of future studies that aim to determine optimal oxygenation target and by clinicians for their daily practice.
在临床研究中，氧分压（PaO2）和氧脉搏饱和度是用于评估血液氧合以及界定低氧/高氧和低氧血症/高氧血症阈值的主要变量。近年来，确定最佳氧合目标引发了广泛关注，主要是因为高氧存在导致更差预后的潜在风险，而低氧相关风险早已为人所知。在这篇简短的叙述性综述中，我们回顾一些生理学的基本要素，包括PaO2的意义、氧气向细胞的扩散、高氧血症和高氧的定义以及氧中毒机制，以便更好地理解这些概念，重症监护临床医生在日常工作中经常会遇到这些概念。PaO2仅提供关于血液携带氧浓度的有限信息，无法确定细胞是否暴露于高氧环境。在旨在确定最佳氧合目标的未来研究设计中以及临床医生的日常实践中都应考虑到这一点。
