The liberal use of supplemental oxygen therapy in acutely ill adults has a long history in the hospital, but high-quality therapy supporting its practice is unclear. Recently, the role of oxygen therapy in non-hypoxic patients has been challenged in myocardial infarction patients, as seen in a number of trials including DETO2X-AMI. We covered the DETO2X-AMI trial on SGEM#192. The SGEM Bottom Line was that the routine administration of supplemental oxygen in patients with suspected or confirmed acute myocardial infarction who are not hypoxic does not appear to provide a patient-oriented benefit. While supplemental oxygen is undoubtedly beneficial for patients acutely desaturating, in respiratory distress, or suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning just to name a few, there is widespread “indication creep” for this therapy.

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