I thought I had understood the Oxygen window pretty well. Oxygen consumed from the arterial blood is only partially replaced by carbon dioxide in the venous blood resulting in a drop in overall pressure in the venous vs arterial side.
However I just realised that I still have a question.
If we assume that the uptake and release of one gas is not affected by the presence of another gas then what difference does the fact that the oxygen pressure and hence the overall pressure is lower if the pressure of nitrogen stays the same.
Dropping the overall pressure is not going to give the nitrogen more 'room' to offgass. Or is it?
If the arterial and venous pressure of nitrogen stays the same then it is this the gradient between the arterial/venous blood and the tissues that determines the release of nitrogen from the tissues.
If the argument above is true then it seems the oxygen window doesn't help offgassing. What am I missing here?
However I just realised that I still have a question.
If we assume that the uptake and release of one gas is not affected by the presence of another gas then what difference does the fact that the oxygen pressure and hence the overall pressure is lower if the pressure of nitrogen stays the same.
Dropping the overall pressure is not going to give the nitrogen more 'room' to offgass. Or is it?
If the arterial and venous pressure of nitrogen stays the same then it is this the gradient between the arterial/venous blood and the tissues that determines the release of nitrogen from the tissues.
If the argument above is true then it seems the oxygen window doesn't help offgassing. What am I missing here?