A Systematic Review on Medical Oxygen Ecosystem: Current State and Recent Advancements

BackgroundMedical oxygen is an essential component of modern healthcare, with a wide variety of applications ranging from supplemental use in surgery and trauma patients to the primary medication in oxygen therapy. This is the most effective treatment for any respiratory illness. Despite the importance of oxygen for public health and its demand as a life-saving drug, research on the subject is limited, with the majority of studies conducted following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the lack of empirical studies, we aimed to compile the recent research efforts with the current state of the field through a systematic review. MethodsWe have performed a systematic review targeting the medical oxygen ecosystem, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P). For the study, we have limited our scope to healthcare facilities and domiciliary applications of medical oxygen. We considered the articles published in the last twenty years, starting from the SARS outbreak in November 2002 to 15th May 2022. ResultsOur systematic search resulted in forty-one preliminary articles, with three more articles appended for a complete outlook on the topic. Based on the selected articles, the current state of the topic was presented through detailed discussion and analysis. ConclusionWe have presented an in-depth discussion of the research works found through the systematic search while extrapolating to provide insights on the current subject scenario. We have highlighted the areas with inadequate contemporary studies and presented some research gaps in the field.