Perioperative Utilisation of Supplemental Oxygen (PULSE Ox)

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Perioperative Utilisation of Supplemental Oxygen (PULSE Ox)

• IRAS ID

  232917

• Contact name

  Andrew Cumpstey

• Sponsor organisation

  University Hospitals Southampton NHS Foundation Trust

• Eudract number

  2017-004853-17

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 11 months, 30 days

• Research summary

  Normal air contains 21% oxygen but for many years anaesthetists have given patients having surgery more oxygen than this. Guidance from the World Health Organisation recommends that all patients having a general anaesthetic for surgery receive 80% oxygen as this might reduce their risk of getting an infection after their operation. However there remains a lot of uncertainty about how much oxygen patients should be given whilst undergoing surgery and evidence is slowly emerging in other areas of medicine to suggest that giving less oxygen may be as safe or even safer than giving high amounts of oxygen. High amounts of oxygen can lead to the production of molecules called reactive oxygen species (ROS) which can damage different parts of the body (such as the lungs, heart, kidneys or brain) and lead to worse clinical outcomes. The amount of oxygen currently given to patients having surgery varies widely; in a recent study of almost 400 procedures across 29 hospitals, we found values ranged from below 30% to almost 100% oxygen. The aim of this research is to explore if giving less oxygen puts less strain on different parts of your body affected by ROS production during surgery.

  Elective surgical patients at University Hospitals Southampton will be randomised to receive either 30%, 55% or 80% oxygen for the duration of their anaesthetic. Small blood and saliva samples will be taken throughout the operation (from tubes the patient would already need for their routine anaesthetic to be controlled safely) to measure the amount of stress different parts of the body are experiencing during the operation.

  Patients will have another blood test at the end of their operation and also 1 week after their operation, when they will also have a cognitive test.

• REC name

  South Central - Hampshire A Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  18/SC/0018

• Date of REC Opinion

  23 Jan 2018

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion