Secret Oxygen Supply Helps Patients Breathe Freely

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More than one million Americans require supplemental oxygen to get through the day. The standard device called a nasal cannula delivers oxygen through the nose. It's bulky, uncomfortable and sometimes embarrassing.

Now, there's an easier solution that lets patients breathe and live freely.

Two years ago, Ruth McCoy was on top of the world.

Everything changed when this young grandmother took some aspirin for a headache - a total of 10 in two days.

"Sometime during the night, I guess I passed out on the floor,” McCoy said.

McCoy had a severe reaction to the pain killer. She was in a coma for two weeks and lost 75-percent of her lung function.

"He told me, he said, 'your lungs are shot,” McCoy said.

The young grandmother was confined to a wheelchair and had to be on oxygen 24-7. That meant wearing a nasal device everywhere she went.

"Everybody stared at you when you would go in public. I didn't have any self-esteem. It took away from my self-esteem,” McCoy said.

The tubes left sores around her nose and ears and drained her energy.

Then McCoy met Dr. Christine Lau who told her about an innovative procedure. Instead of going through the nose, doctors made a small incision in McCoy’s neck. A catheter delivers oxygen through the trachea.

Patients get more oxygen with each breath. One study found those who receive oxygen this way live an average two years longer. The incision is hidden. Patients wear the tubing under their clothes, and their oxygen tanks can be discreetly stored in a handbag.

"This is something that at least we can offer them that is lifestyle-changing for them,” Lau said.

McCoy cut her oxygen flow in half and now has energy to shop around town.

"One hundred percent better, 100 percent better. It's amazing, the difference in the way I feel,” McCoy said.

The procedure called trans-tracheal oxygen costs about $1,000 and is usually covered by insurance.

Lau said there are very few risks, but they include bleeding and pain. Patients might need oxygen for a variety of conditions such as: emphysema, COPD, cystic fibrosis or inhalation burns.

Medical Breakthroughs Research Summary

Topic: Secret Oxygen Supply
Report: MB #3062

Background: Nearly 1 million people in the United States require oxygen therapy 24 hours a day. Most patients suffer from lung conditions like emphysema, pulmonary fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension and inhalational burns.

Some patients with heart disease and cystic fibrosis also require such therapy.

Oxygen for long-term use comes in several different systems. At home, most patients use liquid and compressed gas systems, which involve large tanks. Smaller, more portable tanks can be used for a few hours outside the home. Oxygen is typically delivered through a two-pronged nasal tube, or cannula, but this method can be highly wasteful of oxygen.

Other options include reservoir cannulas, which store oxygen in a small chamber when it is breathed out, and trans-tracheal catheters, which deliver oxygen directly into the trachea.

Trans-Tracheal Oxygen Therapy: While oxygen therapy through a nasal cannula has been used successfully for decades, there have been cases of nasal prongs falling off during sleep, and many patients complain of discomfort around the nose and ears.

A new supplemental oxygen system circumvents those issues by delivering oxygen directly through the trachea rather than through the nostrils.

Research shows the system, called trans-tracheal oxygen therapy allows patients to be more active. This is because delivery through the trachea avoids the "dead space" of the nose, mouth and upper part of the trachea. The system also reduces oxygen flow requirements by 30 to 50 percent. That means oxygen sources last about twice as long as traditional oxygen therapy.

One study shows patients on TTOT lived significantly longer than similar patients who used oxygen delivered through a nasal cannula.

A major benefit for patients is improved self confidence, since they can wear the catheter on a necklace or hidden with a scarf and tubes are hidden under clothing.

To implant the TTOT system, surgeons make an incision in the neck and place a stent in.

The next morning, the stent is removed and a catheter replaces it. Because this method of oxygen delivery requires surgery, there is a risk of bleeding in the neck and infection. There is also a risk of mucus buildup on the implanted catheter. Patients may experience pain shortly after the procedure.

Patients who require a high amount of oxygen may not be candidates for TOTT since the catheter used to deliver oxygen is small.

For More Information, Please Contact:
Ellen McKenna
Public Relations
University of Virginia Health System
(434) 982-4490