Hospitalized on Wednesday, the Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot indicates in a tweet that she was placed under "reinforced oxygen therapy".
The term, which is not used by doctors, suggests that she was put on high flow oxygen therapy.
This technique provides relief to patients in respiratory distress by delivering large amounts of oxygen.
"By means of cannulas inserted into the nose, we administer a mixture of air and oxygen, humidified and warmed, at a flow rate of up to 60 liters per minute, against 15 l / m with a conventional mask"
, indicates Professor Jean-Damien Ricard, head of the intensive medicine department at Louis Mourier hospital, in Colombes.
The oxygen flow rate and concentration are adjusted according to the patient's needs.
The latter is sometimes placed on his stomach, but he remains awake.
High flow oxygen therapy relieves the patient's breathing difficulties, and partially or totally corrects the oxygen debt.
It can be delivered in a continuous monitoring unit or in an intensive care unit.
“The level of oxygen in the blood is very regularly monitored
,” explains Jean-Damien Ricard.
When a patient deteriorates, he is immediately intubated and placed on artificial ventilation ”
.
A study carried out in his department, and published in July in the journal
Intensive Care Medicine
, shows that this device allows in certain cases to avoid the use of invasive artificial respiration, fraught with consequences for the patient.