Question...

1Tulip · Jun 24, 2005

Hi! I have a case study profile that I am doing and I need some help (if you don't mind). I need to know what the average oxygen sats would be for someone who has CHF. If you can help me out with this it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! :)

Really depends upon a lot of things particularly how far along in CHF they are. (And whether they're on supplemental O2.) If the blood is passing reasonably well across the alveolar-capillary membrane in the lungs, then sats should be normal. As pulmonary edema develops, you will see O2 sat begin to drift down, CO2 sat initially will go down (because stiffer, wet lungs activate stretch receptors that modulate the respiratory drive) giving you a mild respiratory alkalosis. But as the pulmonary edema gets worse the CO2 goes up, the O2 continues to tank and you can get a mixed respiratory and metabolic acidosis.

I think this is right. I haven't cared for a CHF patient for a while so maybe others would like to chime in.

Indy, LPN, LVN · Jun 25, 2005

For CHF it's gonna be 80's. It's considered good if they can maintain low 90's without oxygen on nasal cannula.

Canadian_Gal · Jun 25, 2005

Really depends upon a lot of things particularly how far along in CHF they are. (And whether they're on supplemental O2.) If the blood is passing reasonably well across the alveolar-capillary membrane in the lungs, then sats should be normal. As pulmonary edema develops, you will see O2 sat begin to drift down, CO2 sat initially will go down (because stiffer, wet lungs activate stretch receptors that modulate the respiratory drive) giving you a mild respiratory alkalosis. But as the pulmonary edema gets worse the CO2 goes up, the O2 continues to tank and you can get a mixed respiratory and metabolic acidosis.
I think this is right. I haven't cared for a CHF patient for a while so maybe others would like to chime in.

Thanks for the great information! I know that there are many factors to consider and I appreciate you knowledge and insight.

Canadian_Gal · Jun 25, 2005

For CHF it's gonna be 80's. It's considered good if they can maintain low 90's without oxygen on nasal cannula.

If the person with CHF is in the 80's what would their oxygen flow rate be set at? Mask or nasal cannula? Thanks for the information it is a great help.