Monash study reveals flawed data influenced WHO oxygen guidelines

by Anne Crawford

A study by a Monash University professor has exposed compromised data that was used by the World Health Organization (WHO) to support its guidelines on administering highly concentrated oxygen to all patients having surgery.

The WHO in 2016 recommended the practice of administering 80% supplemental oxygen to patients during and after surgery to prevent surgical wound infection – one of the most common serious postoperative complications.

However, a paper co-authored by Professor Paul Myles, Director of the Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine at The Alfred Hospital and Monash University, says the WHO recommended practice may harm patients and that the evidence supporting it was false.

International infection protocol challenged

Professor Paul Myles

by Anne Crawford

The World Health Organization (WHO)’s recommended guidelines on surgical wound infection, one of the most common serious post-operative complications, has been questioned by Monash University researcher and Alfred Health clinician Professor Paul Myles.

Patients with surgical site infections (SSI) are twice as likely to need admission to intensive care as other post-operative patients and are twice as likely to die. Surgical site infections are estimated to require an extra two million bed days a year and are believed to add a one billion-dollar cost to health care providers in Australia.