When it comes to oxygen therapy for critically ill, ventilated patients, more isn’t always better—but is less the answer? The UK-ROX trial set out to find out, tracking over 16,000 ICU patients across 97 hospitals to test if targeting lower oxygen saturation (SpO₂ ~90%) could improve survival rates.

Spoiler alert: it didn’t.

In this episode, we unpack why conservative oxygen therapy didn’t significantly impact 90-day mortality—and what that means for frontline ICU care today. With no meaningful differences in mortality, ICU stays, or days free from organ support, the results suggest that “usual care” oxygen strategies may already be doing the job.

Key takeaways:
• Conservative O₂ therapy didn’t improve survival
• 90-day mortality nearly identical across groups
• Usual care remains a safe and effective standard

Breathe easy—this episode cuts through the noise and gives you the real clinical takeaways.

Want to dig deeper? Check out the full study:
"Conservative Oxygen Therapy in Mechanically Ventilated Critically Ill Adult Patients" by Daniel S. Martin et al., published in JAMA.