Supplemental Oxygen Therapy in Medical Emergencies: More Harm Than Benefit?

The potential harm of oxygen therapy in medical emergencies

In medical emergencies, supplemental oxygen is often administrated routinely. Most paramedics and physicians believe that high concentrations of oxygen are life-saving 1. Over the last century, however, a plethora of studies point to possible detrimental effects of hyperoxia induced by supplemental oxygen in a variety of medical emergencies. This viewpoint provides a historical overview and que...

Stenting versus aggressive medical therapy for intracranial arterial stenosis: more harm than good

BACKGROUND Atherosclerotic intracranial arterial stenosis is an important cause of stroke that is increasingly being treated with percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stenting (PTAS) to prevent recurrent stroke. However, PTAS has not been compared with medical management in a randomized trial. METHODS Objective: To determine whether intracranial stenting (using the Wingspan self-expandin...

Ultrasound: more harm than good?

PSA in screening for prostate cancer: more good than harm or more harm than good?

The aim of screening for prostate cancer is to detect malignancy at an early and potentially treatable stage, thereby increasing the chance of cure. Although serum PSA has been used as a screening test for prostate cancer for over 20 years, the practice is controversial. As a screening test for prostate cancer, PSA lacks sensitivity and specificity for early disease. Furthermore, screening may ...

Inhaled medical gases: more to breathe than oxygen.

The mixture of oxygen and nitrogen is usually sufficient to achieve the therapeutic objective of supporting adequate gas exchange. Pediatric and neonatal patients have an assortment of physiologic conditions that may require adjunctive inhaled gases to treat the wide variety of diseases seen in this heterogeneous population. Inhaled nitric oxide, helium oxygen mixtures, inhaled anesthetics, hy...