Long lasting Oxygen Therapy Considerations: Oxygen Concentrators vs. Liquid Oxygen Tanks
Written by on July 1, 2023
The expense of long-term care are a composite of countless expenses. From transportation to medications, to perhaps home medical equipment such as oxygen therapy equipment. When weighing the option of which technical answer fits a certain patient, economics is an important factor. Other things include whether compliance with the medically recommended treatment is going to be affected.
Oxygen therapy is a crucial treatment modality for COPD a various other ailments. The two main technical methods for long term oxygen remedy (LTOT) are fluid oxygen tanks and oxygen concentrators. LTOT is thought to be oxygen therapy greater than 15 hours/day. When you think about it, that is a great deal of work for an individual.
Oxygen concentrators are devices that provides supplemental oxygen by compressing space air to four atmospheres of pressure and trapping the nitrogen out of the compressed air. This concentrates the oxygen in the compressed air. The device is costly, although air is basically free for the supply.
Liquid oxygen tanks have to be delivered and stored safely. Oxygen delivered in this way is expensive. The benefit would be that the magnetic generator for the individual delivery does not possess a loud compressor. An additional advantage is the fact that you are able to order tiny delivery as well as tanks apparatus for ambulatory (portable) oxygen treatment. This makes oxygen therapy on the go now or perhaps for travelling.
Research Finding
Litch JA et. al. described in “Wilderness and Environmental Medicine” in Fall 2000 that at a medical center in Nepal, “a cost savings of 75 % for supplemental oxygen was used in favor of the oxygen concentrator over cylinders (0.17 US cents a liter vs 0.79 US cents per liter)”.
Multiply savings a cylinder over years, and an oxygen concentrator might rescue enormous amounts of money. So where is the catch? The noise decreases compliance of patients.
Katsenos S et. al. determine in “Respiration” 2006 which in Greece the compliance rate with fluid oxygen tanks is over with oxygen concentrators. Noise disturbance seems to be the main element reported that could explain the considerable impact they seen in compliance (12.9 % for oxygen concentrators as well as 42.5 % for liquid oxygen tanks).
