GIVING a patient just over £1 worth of additional oxygen following surgery could save the NHS millions of pounds by reducing infections, according to recent research in the US.

The research showed that nearly five per cent of patients in the UK who underwent a surgical procedure contract a surgical site infection (SSI) every year.

Each patient with an SSI needs a further seven to 12 days in hospital, costing the NHS up to £1,700, with extra costs for antibiotics.

Patients with SSI are also seven times more likely to die than those who do not contact a post-operative infection.

By administering additional oxygen following an operation could reduce the risk of SSIs by up to 50 per cent and save the NHS millions of pounds.

Dr David Sutton, clinical service director of clinical care for Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust, said patients at risk from developing infections after surgery would normally be given extra oxygen anyway.

He said: "I don't know particularly about oxygen and infections, what we do know is that your risk of medical problems after an anaesthetic doesn't happen straightaway, it does happen on the ward in the first two or three days. So what we do routinely, we do make sure everyone gets oxygen in recovery. If people are a bit sick or old, they get oxygen for two or three days. That's our current policy."

He said the level of oxygen patients are given also depends on the type of operation they have and how intrusive the surgery is and how high the risk of infection is.

Dr Sutton added: "The difficulty for the NHS is that you can see the amount you are spending on oxygen but it's impossible to see the amount you are saving. You say £1 of oxygen, but a mask costs £2.50 and that's just for one person."