Central and mixed venous oxygen saturations have been used to guide resuscitation in circulatory failure, but the impact of arterial oxygen tension on venous oxygen saturation has not been thoroughly evaluated. This observational study investigated the impact of arterial oxygen tension on venous oxygen saturation in circulatory failure. Twenty critically ill patients with circulatory failure requiring mechanical ventilation and a pulmonary artery catheter in an intensive care unit in a tertiary hospital in Western Australia were recruited. Samples of arterial blood, central venous blood, and mixed venous blood were simultaneously and slowly drawn from the arterial, central venous, and pulmonary artery catheter, respectively, at baseline and after the patient was ventilated with 100% inspired oxygen for 5 min. The blood samples were redrawn after a significant change in cardiac index (≥10%) from the baseline, occurring within 24 h of study enrolment while the patient was ventilated with the same baseline inspired oxygen concentration, was detected. An increase in inspired oxygen concentration significantly increased the arterial oxygen tension from 12.5 to 38.4 kPa (93.8-288 mmHg) (mean difference, 25.9 kPa; 95% confidence interval [CI], 7.5-31.9 kPa; P