Hypoxemia overview

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Overview

Hypoxemia (or hypoxaemia) is an abnormal deficiency in the concentration of oxygen in arterial blood (Mosby's Medical Dictionary). A frequent error is made when the term is used to describe poor tissue diffusion as in hypoxia. It is possible to have a low oxygen content (e.g. due to anemia) but a high PO₂ in arterial blood so incorrect use can lead to confusion.

Hypoxemia is different from hypoxia, which is an abnormally low oxygen availability to the body or an individual tissue or organ.

The type of hypoxia that is caused by hypoxemia is referred to as hypoxemic hypoxia. Because of the frequent incorrect use of hypoxemia, this is sometimes erroneously stated as hypoxic hypoxia.