Pulmonology Coding Alert
Identify Hypercapnia and Hypoxia in Documentation
Published on Tue Apr 09, 2013
The key to identifying the presence of hypoxia or hypercapnia is looking at the results of arterial blood gases.
When there is hypoxia, you will note an arterial oxygen tension (PaO2) < 60mm of Hg while arterial carbon dioxide tension remains normal or low. If hypoxia is present, the respiratory failure is classified as type I failure.
When hypercapnia is present, PaCO2 levels will be higher than 50 mm of Hg. The pH levels will be less than 7.3 and bicarbonate levels will usually be elevated. A respiratory failure with hypercapnia is classified as type II failure.
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