Aim. Ventilation with pure oxygen (hyperoxic ventilation: HV) is thought to decrease whole body oxygen consumption (VO2). However, the validity and impact of this phenomenon remain ambiguous; until now, under hyperoxic conditions, VO2 has only been determined by the reverse Fick principle, a method with inherent methodological problems. The goal of this study was to determine changes of VO2, carbon dioxide production (VCO2), and the respiratory quotient (RQ) during normoxic and hyperoxic ventilation, using a metabolic monitor.
Methods. After providing signed informed consent and institutional acceptance, 14 healthy volunteers were asked to sequentially breathe room air, pure oxygen, and room air again. VO2, VCO2, RQ, and energy expenditure (EE) were determined by indirect calorimetry using a modified metabolic monitor during HV. Results. HV reduced VO2 from 3.4 (3.0/4.0) mL/kg/min to 2.8 (2.5/3.6) mL/kg/min (P < 0.05), whereas VCO2 remained constant (3.0 [2.6/3.6] mL/kg/min versus 3.0 [2.6/3.5] mL/kg/min, n.s.). After onset of HV, RQ increased from 0.9 (0.8/0.9) to 1.1 (1.0/1.1). Most changes during HV were immediately reversed during subsequent normoxic ventilation.
Conclusion. HV not only reduces VO2, but also increases the respiratory quotient. This might be interpreted as an indicator of the substantial metabolic changes induced by HV. However, the impact of this phenomenon requires further study.
In both healthy volunteers and anaesthetized patients, HV resulted in comparable and reversible changes of established HRV parameters. These changes might be relevant enough to bias HRV-based analgesia and anaesthesia monitoring and could result in a clinically relevant misinterpretation of HRV parameters as indicators of anaesthetic depth during HV.
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