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Long Term Oxygen Therapy Considerations: Oxygen Concentrators vs. Liquid Oxygen Tanks
By Samantha Rangen
The costs of long term care are a composite of many expenses. From transportation to medications, to possibly home medical equipment such as oxygen therapy equipment. When weighing the decision of which technical solution fits a particular patient, economics is a necessary factor. Other factors include whether compliance with the medically recommended treatment will be affected.
Oxygen therapy is an important treatment modality for COPD an other diseases. The two main technical solutions for long term oxygen treatment (LTOT) are liquid oxygen tanks and oxygen concentrators. LTOT is considered to be oxygen therapy greater than 15 hours/day. When you think about it, that's a lot of work for a patient.
Oxygen concentrators are machines which provides supplemental oxygen by compressing room air to 4 atmospheres of pressure and trapping the nitrogen out of the compressed air. This concentrates the oxygen in the compressed air. The machine is costly, but air is literally free for the supply.
Liquid oxygen tanks must be delivered and stored safely. Oxygen delivered in this manner is expensive. The advantage is that the apparatus for the patient delivery does not have a loud compressor. Another advantage is that you can order small tanks and delivery apparatus for ambulatory (portable) oxygen therapy. This makes oxygen therapy available on the go or for travelling.
Research Finding
Litch JA et. al. reported in "Wilderness and Environmental Medicine" in Fall 2000 that at a medical facility in Nepal, "a cost savings of 75% for supplemental oxygen was found in favor of the oxygen concentrator over cylinders (0.17 US cents per liter vs 0.79 US cents per liter)".
Multiply savings per cylinder over years, and an oxygen concentrator could save enormous amounts of money. So where's the catch? The noise reduces compliance of patients.
Katsenos S et. al. conclude in "Respiration" 2006 that in Greece the compliance rate with liquid oxygen tanks is higher than with oxygen concentrators. Noise disturbance seems to be the one factor reported that could explain the serious difference they found in compliance (12.9% for oxygen concentrators and 42.5% for liquid oxygen tanks).
However, and Italian study reported in "Respiratory Medicine" 2006 by Neri M et. al that compliance was not assured by liquid oxygen use. Rather, better education of the patients, family, physicians and general public would improve the practice of LTOT patients.
It's Your Choice
It is not always clear which oxygen therapy method to use for LTOT. The best solution for one person may not be the best solution for another. What is most important is that the patient use which ever method is chosen in the prescribed method so that the maximum health benefits can be reaped. Talk over with your physician, other people you know on LTOT, and your close friends and family to make the best decision.
Samantha Rangen writes about home health issues. She has a BA in chemistry and has worked as a research technician for over 20 years in biochemistry, genetics, biochemistry, and cancer research.
Samantha markets discount home medical equipment, including Oxygen Concentrators at http://www.getinspec.com
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