Liberal use of oxygen after brain insults remains controversial. We studied whether high arterial oxygen tension (PaO2) is associated with decreased long-term survival in patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) treated in the intensive care unit (ICU).
Adult patients treated for ICH in Finnish ICUs in 2003-2012 were included in the study. Patients were divided into high (>150mmHg), intermediate (97.5-150mmHg), and low (<97.5mmHg) PaO2 groups according to the lowest measured PaO2/FiO2-ratio during the first 24 hours after ICU admission. In univariate analysis, patients in the high PaO2 group had a significantly increased risk of six-month death compared with the low group (OR 1.82; 95%CI,1.36–2.42;p<0.001), but this statistically significant relation was lost after controlling for case mix in multivariate analysis (OR 1.10; 95%CI,0.76–1.60;p=0.598).
No significant relation between PaO2 levels and long-term mortality was found. The clinical role of hyperoxemia in ICU-treated ICH patients remains controversial and warrants further studies.
