British Thoracic Society guidelines for home oxygen use in adults

The British Thoracic Society (BTS) Home OxygenGuideline provides detailed evidence-based guidance for the use of home oxygenfor patients out of hospital. Although the majority of evidence comes from the use of oxygenin patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the scope of the guidance includes patients with a variety of long-term respiratory illnesses and other groups in whom oxygenis currently ordered, such as those with cardiac failure, cancer and end-stage cardiorespiratory disease, terminal illness or cluster headache. It explores the evidence base for the use of different modalities of oxygen therapyand patient-related outcomes such as mortality, symptoms and quality of life. The guideline also makes recommendations for assessment and follow-up protocols, and risk assessments, particularly in the clinically challenging area of home oxygenusers who smoke. The guideline development group is aware of the potential for confusion sometimes caused by the current nomenclature for different types of home oxygen, and rather than renamingthem, has adopted the approach of clarifying those definitions, and in particular emphasising what is meant by long-term oxygen therapyand palliative oxygen therapy. The home oxygenguideline provides expert consensus opinion in areas where clinical evidence is lacking, and seeks to deliver improved prescribing practice, leading to improved compliance and improved patient outcomes, with consequent increased value to the health service.