Usefulness of Oxygen at Height Altitude Evaluated by Polysomnography in Mining Workers
Paula Contreras Núñez, MD1,2*, Pedro Moya Santibáñez, MD1,3, Javiera Hagn Troncoso4, Sonia Carlos Carlos5, Katherine Vallejos Kandalaf5 and María Belén Sobarzo Zapata5
1Adult Neurologist, Sleep disorders Center, SIMEDS Center, Chile, phone: +56989007627
2Adult Neurologist, Department of Sleep Disorders Indisa Clinic, Chile.
3Adult Neurologist, Sleep Disorders Center and Epilepsy Center, Las Condes Clinic, Chile.
4Medical student, Diego Portales University, Chile.
5Nurse, Fatigue and Sleep Disorder Prevention Program, ESACHS, Chile.
*Corresponding Author: Paula Contreras Núñez, MD; SIMEDS Center, Los Misioneros 1956, Providencia, Santiago de Chile 7520229, Chile; Phone: 56224745342.
Received: October 20, 2022 Published: November 03, 2022
Abstract
Background: Rotary miners who have shifts at high altitudes, with breaks at sea level, are exposed to chronic intermittent hypoxemia. This phenomenon has different repercussions at work, such as increased muscle fatigue and accident risk, impaired memory and ability to calculate, and decreased performance. Therefore, in this study, we assessed how intermittent hypobaric conditions affected the results of split-night polysomnography (PSG) and the usefulness of using oxygen, test carried out at 3200 m above sea level in workers at a mine in northern Chile.
Materials and Methods: In total, 312 patients underwent PSG at the miner camp. A subgroup of 51 patients with splitnight PSG was analyzed with oxygen titration between 1 and 3 L/min.
Results: With oxygen therapy, the percentage of REM sleep was increased, whereas arousal was decreased. Additionally, we observed higher minimum oxygen saturation (SpO2; 76.4% versus 83.7%), lower average apnea-hypopnea index (46.5/h versus 7.8/h), average SpO2 that was best at different oxygen levels, and lower average saturation time percentage of 90% (88.4% baseline versus 16.8%).
Conclusion: Changes in PSG patterns with oxygen use could be caused by ventilatory instability related to intermittent chronic hypoxia; thus, low-dose oxygen therapy may be an alternative treatment for sleep apnea.
Keywords: polisomnography, mining workers, high altitude, sleep apnea, oxygen
Citation: Nunez PC, Santibanez PM, Troncoso JH, Carlos SC, Kandalaf KV, Zapata MBS. “Usefulness of Oxygen at Height Altitude Evaluated by Polysomnography in Mining Workers”. SVOA Neurology 2022, 3:6, 246-254.
