British journal of diseases of the chest
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Recent interest in the benefits of long-term oxygen therapy for patients with chronic airflow obstruction and hypoxaemia should lead to an increased use of nasal prongs for prolonged (15 hours/day) oxygen administration. Because some patients find nasal prongs uncomfortable and since they may slip out of position during use, we have devised a new nasal oxygen mask and compared both its performance and comfort with conventional nasal prongs. Changes in end-tidal oxygen concentration were measured after administering oxygen at 2 litres/min through each device for 10 minutes in 15 normal subjects and for 1 hour in patients with chronic airflow obstruction and hypoxaemia. ⋯ There was also no difference in the improvement in arteriolized capillary oxygen tensions (mask 3.5 kPa; prongs 4.0 kPa). In a separate study of prolonged (22 hours) use there was no difference in reported comfort. The new mask is a useful alternative to conventional nasal prongs.