Oxygen Therapy For Patients In Intensive Care

Oxygen is the second most common gas forming the normal external air (Patel et al, 2003).Like the other elemental gases as hydrogen or nitrogen, oxygen appears in the natural state as a molecule of dioxygen O, by pooling a pair of electrons between the 2 atoms of oxygen. The molecule of O2 possesses a global electronic deficit of two electrons, which exists in form of two unpaired electrons under normal conditions (e.g., room temperature, normobaria, not irradiated). Oxygen usually reacts as a bi-radicals (Courtière, 2006).The aim of this study was to explain the role of oxygen in intensive care unit including:• The physiology of oxygen transport and function.• Oxygen delivery systems.• Protocol of oxygen therapy in intensive care.• Oxygen toxicity