This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citing articles on ISI (1)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related articles  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Surgical Physiology  • Surgical Infections  • Alert me on articles by topic

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

To the Editor: Dr Belda and colleagues¹ reported that the administration of 80% FIO₂ during and for 6 hours after surgery significantly reduced postoperative wound infection risk in patients undergoing major colorectal surgery. There were no reported adverse effects of high inspired oxygen concentrations, and the authors concluded that supplemental oxygen appeared to confer only few risks to the patient. However, there is evidence that increased oxygen concentrations may be harmful for some patients, especially for those with preexisting pulmonary disease.²

Exposure to high inspired oxygen concentrations produces pulmonary absorption atelectasis in the perioperative period, affects the endogenous surfactant system, and may ultimately contribute to later pulmonary complications such as pneumonia.^3-5 These adverse effects are dependent on the FIO₂ and the duration of time the patient is exposed to the high oxygen concentration.³ Consequently, the lowest supplemental oxygen concentration that still reduces surgical site infection should be recommended . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Stefan Suttner, MD
suttners@klilu.de

Joachim Boldt, MD; Swen Piper, MD
Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine
Klinikum Ludwigshafen
Ludwigshafen, Germany

RELATED ARTICLES

Supplemental Oxygen and Risk of Surgical Wound Infection
Ritesh Agarwal
JAMA. 2006;295(14):1641.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Supplemental Oxygen and Risk of Surgical Wound Infection
Kane O. Pryor, Cynthia A. Lien, Thomas J. Fahey, III, and Peter A. Goldstein
JAMA. 2006;295(14):1642.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Supplemental Oxygen and Risk of Surgical Wound Infection—Reply
F. Javier Belda and Daniel I. Sessler
JAMA. 2006;295(14):1642-1643.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Supplemental Perioperative Oxygen and the Risk of Surgical Wound Infection: A Randomized Controlled Trial
F. Javier Belda, Luciano Aguilera, José García de la Asunción, Javier Alberti, Rosario Vicente, Lucía Ferrándiz, Rafael Rodríguez, Roque Company, Daniel I. Sessler, Gerardo Aguilar, Stephanie García Botello, Rafael Ortí, and for the Spanish Reduccion de la Tasa de Infeccion Quirurgica Group
JAMA. 2005;294(16):2035-2042.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT