The Treatment of Chronic Cases of Gas Poisoning by Continuous Oxygen Administration in Chambers

Oxygen chambers and tents

“…While he survived, and ‘expected to recover in a day or two’, the previously healthy infantryman, who ‘had done heavy work all his life, and was a good athlete, having rowed and swum in races’, was left with persistent breathlessness, headache and chest tightness. 2…”

“…In the months that followed, similar chronic sequelae were increasingly recognised in those who had been poisoned by gas ‘either in battle, or in the manufacture of munitions of war.’ 3 Since many of these symptoms were identical to those experienced at high altitude, it was postulated that they might improve with supplemental oxygen therapy. 2…”

“…Patients were enclosed from 1700 h to 1000 h, for five consecutive days, following which all but two reported symptomatic improvement. 2,3 Barcroft later explained:‘Our motivation for using this type of administration was merely that it was the simplest. The whole treatment being experimental we desired that the patient be subjected to only one altered condition of life – namely, the composition of the atmosphere which he breathed.…”

The Role of Oxygen in the Regulation of Erythropoiesis. Depression of the Rate of Delivery of New Red Cells to the Blood by High Concentrations of Inspired Oxygen 12

“…A few experiments have demonstrated that animals become anemic within a few weeks when placed in atmospheres containing 60 per cent or more of oxygen at normal barometric pressure (1)(2)(3). Early attempts to demonstrate a similar depressant effect in human subjects were unsuccessful, usually because the concentrations of oxygen were not sufficiently high, or because the observations were continued for only short periods of time (4,5). Since the human red cell normally survives in the circulation for approximately 120 days, it is evident that special technics must be used, or the exposure to high concentrations of oxygen must be continued for weeks if an unequivocal drop in the red blood cell level of a normal subject is to be produced.…”

Oxygen Therapy

“…syringe. 2. The blood is rapidly distributed in a large petri dish (6 inches in diameter), the bottom of which has been evenly covered with 30 Gm.…”