Ask AI

Search

Updates

Table of contents

Obesity hypoventilation syndrome

Guidelines

Key sources

The following summarized guidelines for the evaluation and management of obesity hypoventilation syndrome are prepared by our editorial team based on guidelines from the American Thoracic Society (ATS 2019).
1

Diagnostic investigations

Blood gas analysis: as per ATS 2019 guidelines, consider measuring PaCO2 rather than serum bicarbonate or SpO2 for the diagnosis of OHS in patients with obesity and sleep-disordered breathing with a high pretest probability of having OHS.
C
Show 2 more
Create free account

Respiratory support

Positive airway pressure therapy
As per ATS 2019 guidelines:
Consider initiating positive airway pressure therapy during sleep in stable ambulatory patients with OHS.
C
Consider initiating CPAP therapy rather than noninvasive ventilation as first-line therapy in stable ambulatory patients with OHS and concomitant severe obstructive sleep apnea (apnea-hypopnea index ≥ 30 events/hour).
C
Create free account

More topics in this section

  • Noninvasive ventilation

Nonpharmacologic interventions

Weight loss: as per ATS 2019 guidelines, consider offering weight loss interventions producing sustained weight loss of 25-30% of actual body weight to achieve resolution of hypoventilation in patients with OHS.
C
Create free account