Home oxygen therapy for treatment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

There is good evidence that the addition of home long-term continuous oxygen therapy for COPD increases survival rates in patients with severe hypoxemia (i.e., O2 saturation of less than 90 percent or partial pressure of arterial oxygen [PaO2] of less than 8 kPa per 60 mm Hg) but not in patients with moderate hypoxemia or nocturnal desaturation.