Question:

Oxygen therapy may NOT be useful (or may be harmful) in which of the following conditions?

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Recall the conditions (paraquat, bleomycin) where high oxygen worsens oxidative lung injury.
Updated On: Jun 23, 2026
  • Asthma
  • Pneumonia
  • Subglottic stenosis
  • Pulmonary fibrosis
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The Correct Option is D

Solution and Explanation

Step 1: Supplemental oxygen corrects hypoxaemia and is helpful in most causes of low oxygen, such as asthma, pneumonia and upper-airway narrowing like subglottic stenosis, where the problem is impaired ventilation or gas exchange that oxygen can offset. Step 2: In pulmonary fibrosis the lung interstitium is scarred and thickened, so the diffusion barrier is fixed. High inspired oxygen does little to overcome the diffusion defect and, importantly, high oxygen tension promotes free-radical generation that can accelerate fibrotic lung injury. Step 3: Oxygen is specifically known to worsen lung damage in paraquat poisoning, bleomycin-induced lung injury and pulmonary fibrosis because of this oxidant mechanism. Step 4: Therefore among the choices, pulmonary fibrosis (option d) is the setting where oxygen therapy is least useful and potentially harmful, while options a, b and c benefit from oxygen.
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