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oxygen-15

ABBR: O-15. A radioactive isotope of oxygen, atomic weight 15, used as a tracer molecule in PET scanning.

oxygenase

(ŏk′sĭ-jĕn-ās″) [Gr. oxys, sharp, + gennan, to produce, + -ase, enzyme] An enzyme that enables an organism to use atmospheric oxygen in respiration.

oxygenate

(ŏk′sĭ-jĕn-āt) To combine or supply with oxygen.

oxygenation

(ok″sĭ-jĕ-nā′shŏn) Saturation or combination with oxygen, as the aeration of the blood in the lungs.

apneic o. Providing oxygen to the upper airway of an anesthetized patient or a patient who has had cardiac arrest. Oxygenation is maintained, but carbon dioxide is not eliminated.

extracorporeal membrane o. ABBR: ECMO. A technique for circulating blood, removing carbon dioxide from it, and adding oxygen to it. The blood is warmed to an appropriate temperature and recirculated to the patient. ECMO is used in patients with acute respiratory distress that has not responded to conventional mechanical ventilation, as well as in patients with meconium aspiration syndrome, pneumonia, and persistent pulmonary hypertension. SYN: venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

hyperbaric o. ABBR: HBO. Administration of oxygen under increased pressure while the patient or the patient’s extremity is in an airtight chamber. Pressure chambers in which the oxygen is hyperbaric have been used to treat carbon monoxide poisoning, anaerobic infections such as gas gangrene, necrotizing fasciitis, crush injuries with acute ischemia of tissues, compromised skin grafts and flaps, mixed soft tissue reactions, burns, smoke inhalation, soft tissue radiation necrosis, chronic refractory osteomyelitis, decompression sickness (bends), and gas embolism. Appliances that use hyperbaric oxygen topically (colloquially called boots) have been used to treat localized infections of the extremities.

image Hyperbaric oxygenation should not be used in untreated pneumothorax, inner ear infection, or premature infants.

tissue o. The oxygen level in tissues. Measurement of the oxygen concentration in body fluids is not as important as knowing the oxygen level in the tissues themselves. Determining the gastrointestinal interstitial pH provides an indication of the adequacy of tissue oxygenation. Decreased oxygen supply leads to anaerobic metabolism in cells, which produces a fall in pH. Thus the tissue pH serves as a marker for the adequacy of oxygen supply in the tissues.

transtracheal o. The application of oxygen via a catheter system inserted into the trachea.

venoarterial extracorporeal membrane o. Extracorporeal membrane o.

oxygenator

(ok″si-jĕn-āt′ŏr) A device for mechanically oxygenating blood, e.g., during thoracic or open-heart surgery.

bubble o. A device to oxygenate fluids mechanically, as during thoracic or open-heart surgery. It is a technological ancestor of membrane oxygenators.

oxygen concentrator

A device used for home oxygen therapy that removes most of ...

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