OBJECTIVE: Noninvasive ventilation (NIV) has been shown to improve survival and symptom burden in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, limited data exist regarding the clinical and physiological parameters at the time of NIV initiation. This study aimed to describe the clinical characteristics and respiratory physiological markers in a cohort of ALS patients with chronic respiratory failure.
METHODS: This is a single-center retrospective cohort study of patients with ALS assessed for NIV initiation between February 2012 and January 2021. NIV was initiated based on insurance eligibility criteria: daytime hypercapnia, defined by partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO2) >45 mm Hg using diurnal transcutaneous CO2 (TcCO2) as a surrogate, a maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP) <60 cmH2O or forced vital capacity (FVC) <50% predicted normal.
RESULTS: We identified 335 patients with ALS and chronic respiratory failure referred to an outpatient home ventilation clinic for NIV initiation. The mean age was 64 years ±11; 151 (45%) were female, 326 (97%) were white, and 100 (29%) had bulbar-onset ALS. At the time of NIV initiation, the mean FVC was 64% ± 19%, the mean MIP; 41 cmH2O ± 17, and diurnal TcCO2; 40 ± 6 mmHg. The most common reasons for NIV initiation were MIP <60 cmH2O (58%) and multiple concomitant indications (28%). Within 1 year of NIV initiation, 126 (37%) patients were deceased.
CONCLUSIONS: We found that impairment in inspiratory force was the most common reason for NIV initiation and often preceded significant declines in FVC.

BACKGROUND: For patients with sepsis receiving non-invasive ventilation (NIV), early rehabilitation is crucial. The Sitting Baduanjin (SBE) is an efficient early rehabilitation exercise suitable for bed patients. There is no consensus about the effect of SBE on the early rehabilitation of septic patients with NIV. This study focused on how the SBE affected the early rehabilitation of sepsis patients with NIV.
METHODS: 96 sepsis patients with NIV were randomly assigned to either an Baduanjin group that received the SBE based on the routine rehabilitation exercise (n = 48) or a control group (n = 48) that received routine rehabilitation exercise. The primary outcome was the Medical Research Council(MRC)score, and the Barthel Index score, the duration of NIV, length of ICU stay, length of total stay, hospitalization expense as secondary outcomes.
RESULTS: A total of 245 sepsis patients were screened, with 96 randomly assigned. The study was completed by 90 patients out of the 96 participants.Results revealed that the MRC score increased in both groups, but the improvement of muscle strength in Baduanjin group was more obvious, with statistical significance (p < 0.001).There was statistically significantly difference between the two groups in Barthel Index at the day of transfer out of ICU(P = 0.028).The patients in the Baduanjin group had an average reduction of 24.09 h in the duration of NIV and 3.35 days in total length of hospital stay compared with the control group (p < 0.05).Of note, the Baduanjin group had significantly reduction the total hospitalization expense. No serious adverse events occurred during the intervention period.
CONCLUSIONS: In patients with sepsis, the SBE appears to improve muscle strength and activities of daily living (ADL), and lowed the duration of NIV, the length of the total stay, and the hospitalization expense.
BACKGROUND: The study registered on the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ( www.chictr.org.cn ), Clinical Trials identifier ChiCTR1800015011 (28/02/2018).

BACKGROUND: Noninvasive respiratory support modalities are common alternatives to mechanical ventilation in acute hypoxemic respiratory failure. However, studies historically compare noninvasive respiratory support to conventional oxygen rather than mechanical ventilation. In this study, we compared outcomes in patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure treated initially with noninvasive respiratory support to patients treated initially with invasive mechanical ventilation.
METHODS: This is a retrospective observational cohort study between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2019 at a large healthcare network in the United States. We used a validated phenotyping algorithm to classify adult patients (≥18 years) with eligible International Classification of Diseases codes into two cohorts: those treated initially with noninvasive respiratory support or those treated invasive mechanical ventilation only. The primary outcome was time-to-in-hospital death analyzed using an inverse probability of treatment weighted Cox model adjusted for potential confounders. Secondary outcomes included time-to-hospital discharge alive. A secondary analysis was conducted to examine potential differences between noninvasive positive pressure ventilation and nasal high flow.
RESULTS: During the study period, 3177 patients met inclusion criteria (40% invasive mechanical ventilation, 60% noninvasive respiratory support). Initial noninvasive respiratory support was not associated with a decreased hazard of in-hospital death (HR: 0.65, 95% CI: 0.35-1.2), but was associated with an increased hazard of discharge alive (HR: 2.26, 95% CI: 1.92-2.67). In-hospital death varied between the nasal high flow (HR 3.27, 95% CI: 1.43-7.45) and noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (HR 0.52, 95% CI 0.25-1.07), but both were associated with increased likelihood of discharge alive (nasal high flow HR 2.12, 95 CI: 1.25-3.57; noninvasive positive pressure ventilation HR 2.29, 95% CI: 1.92-2.74).
CONCLUSIONS: These data show that noninvasive respiratory support is not associated with reduced hazards of in-hospital death but is associated with hospital discharge alive.

How to cite this article: Bhattacharya D, Esquinas AM, Mandal M. Oxygen Delivery Devices in Postoperative Patients: Proper Selection of Patients Matters! Indian J Crit Care Med 2024;28(8):802.

Use of noninvasive ventilation provided by a helmet increased globally during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This approach may reduce need for intubation and its associated clinical complications in critically ill patients. Use of helmet interface minimizes virus aerosolization while enabling verbal communication, oral feeding and coughing/expectoration of secretions during its administration. Although improved oral hydration is a recognized benefit of helmet NIV, relatively little is known about the safety and efficiency of swallowing during helmet NIV. Risk of aspiration is a key consideration given the fragile pulmonary status of critically ill patients requiring respiratory support, and therefore the decision to initiate oral intake is best made based on multidisciplinary input. We reviewed the current published evidence on NIV and its effects on upper airway physiology and swallowing function. We then presented a case example demonstrating preservation of swallowing performance with helmet NIV. Last, we offer provisional multidisciplinary guidance for clinical practice, and provide directions for future research.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the evidence-based practice of prevention and care of nasal and facial pressure injuries in patients with non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV) using the knowledge to action framework (KTA), and to explore its effectiveness.
METHODS: Using an evidence-based nursing approach, an evidence-based practice group was established to formulate a clinical problem, the literature from domestic and international databases were researched for relevant evidence, the evidence was introduced into clinical scenarios, an evidence-based practice plan was developed, and a strategy for applying the best evidence was constructed by conducting a baseline review of healthcare professionals and patients with NPPV, analyzing barriers and promoting factors, and making changes in clinical practice at the organizational level, the practitioner level, and the patient level. Purposive sampling method was used to select the healthcare staff of the cardiac surgical intensive care unit (CSICU) of the Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, as well as the patients with NPPV admitted from October 1 to November 15, 2023 (pre-evidence-based practice) and November 16 to December 31 (post-evidence-based practice), as the subjects of the study. Through questionnaire analysis, the incidence of nasal and facial pressure injury of NPPV patients, the implementation rate of review indicators of medical staff, the score of the knowledge, belief and conduct of medical staff, and the compliance and comfort of patients before and after evidence-based practice were compared.
RESULTS: A total of 52 medical staff were included, aged (28.54±6.50) years old, with 3.00 (1.00, 12.75) years of working experience; 2 doctoral degree holders (3.85%), 4 master degree holders (7.69%), 46 bachelor degree holders (88.46%); 2 with senior title (3.85%), 17 with intermediate title (32.69%), and 33 junior titles (63.46%). Fifty patient questionnaires were collected before and after evidence-based nursing practice; the differences between before and after evidence-based practice in terms of gender, age, body weight, duration of ventilator usage, 24-hour bleeding and total bleeding were not statistically significant and were comparable. Compared with the pre-evidence-based practice, after carrying out the corresponding evidence-based nursing practice, the incidence of nasal and facial pressure injuries of NPPV patients decreased from 16.00% (8/50) to 4.00% (2/50, P < 0.05), the total implementation rate of review indicators of medical staff increased from 79.73% to 94.08% (P < 0.01), and the total scores of knowledge, belief and conduct were significantly improved (141.96±13.88 vs. 114.65±19.72, P < 0.05), and compliance and comfort of patients were significantly improved (compliance score: 4.60±0.99 vs. 5.82±1.42, comfort score: 4.10±1.63 vs. 6.92±2.33, both P < 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: The application of an evidence-based nursing approach to obtain evidence related to the prevention of nasal and facial pressure injuries in patients with NPPV can be used to guide clinical practice, significantly reducing the incidence of nasal and facial pressure injuries in such patients, improving the implementation rate of review indicators and the knowledge, belief, and conduct scores of medical staff, and enhancing compliance and comfort of NPPV patients.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the application effect of early awake prone position in mild-to-moderate acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) patients, and analyze the related factors affecting the prone position outcome.
METHODS: A prospective cohort study was conducted. The mild-to-moderate ARDS patients admitted to the emergency department of Yingshang County People\'s Hospital from January 2020 to June 2023 were enrolled as the research subjects. According to the results of prone tolerance test, the patients were divided into awake prone position group and non-prone position group. All patients were given high flow nasal cannula (HFNC) according to the standard procedures. The patients in the awake prone position group received prone position treatment within 12 hours after admission, in addition to the standard treatment. This could be performed in several times, at least once a day, and at least 2 hours each time. In order to prolong the prone position as much as possible, the patients were allowed to move or keep a small angle side prone. The changes of oxygenation index (PaO2/FiO2) at 0, 24, 48, and 72 hours after admission, the rate of intensive care unit (ICU) transfer, the use rate and use time of non-invasive ventilation (NIV), the total hospital stay, and the daily prone position time and 2-hour ROX index [ratio of pulse oxygen saturation/fraction of inspired oxygen (SpO2/FiO2) and respiratory rate (RR)] of prone position patients were recorded. The successful termination of HFNC was defined as the successful prone position, and the failure of prone position was defined as switching to NIV or transferring to ICU. Subgroup analysis was performed, and the binary multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to screen the influencing factors of the early awake prone position outcome.
RESULTS: A total of 107 patients were finally enrolled, with 61 in the awake prone position group and 46 in the non-prone position group. Both groups showed a gradual increase in PaO2/FiO2 with prolonged admission time. The PaO2/FiO2 at 24 hours after admission in the awake prone position group was significantly higher than that at 0 hour [mmHg (1 mmHg ≈ 0.133 kPa): 191.94±17.86 vs. 179.24±29.27, P < 0.05], while the difference in the non-prone position group was only statistically significant at 72 hours (mmHg: 198.24±17.99 vs. 181.24±16.62, P < 0.05). Furthermore, the PaO2/FiO2 at 48 hours and 72 hours after admission in the awake prone position group was significantly higher than that in the non-prone position group. The use rate of NIV in the awake prone position group was significantly lower than that in the non-prone position group [36.1% (22/61) vs. 56.5% (26/46), P < 0.05]; Kaplan-Meier curve analysis further confirmed that the patients in the awake prone position group used NIV later, and the cumulative rate of NIV usage was significantly lower than that in the non-prone position group (Log-Rank test: χ 2 = 5.402, P = 0.020). Compared with the non-prone position group, the ICU transfer rate in the awake prone position group was significantly lowered [11.5% (7/61) vs. 28.3% (13/46), P < 0.05], and the HFNC time, NIV time, and total hospital stay were significantly shortened [HFNC time (days): 5.71±1.45 vs. 7.24±3.36, NIV time (days): 3.27±1.28 vs. 4.40±1.47, total hospital stay (days): 11 (7, 13) vs. 14 (10, 19), all P < 0.05]. Of the 61 patients who underwent awake prone positioning, 39 were successful, and 22 failed. Compared with the successful group, the patients in the failure group had a higher body mass index [BMI (kg/m2): 26.61±4.70 vs. 22.91±5.50, P < 0.05], lower PaO2/FiO2, proportion of asymptomatic hypoxemia and 2-hour ROX index of prone position [PaO2/FiO2 (mmHg): 163.73±24.73 vs. 185.69±28.87, asymptomatic hypoxemia proportion: 18.2% (4/22) vs. 46.2% (18/39), 2-hour ROX index of prone position: 5.75±1.18 vs. 7.21±1.45, all P < 0.05], and shorter daily prone positioning time (hours: 5.87±2.85 vs. 8.05±1.99, P < 0.05). Binary multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that all these factors were influencing factors for the outcome of awake prone positioning (all P < 0.05), among which BMI [odds ratio (OR) = 1.447, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) was 1.105-2.063] and non-asymptomatic hypoxemia (OR = 13.274, 95%CI was 1.548-117.390) were risk factors for failure of prone position, while PaO2/FiO2 (OR = 0.831, 95%CI was 0.770-0.907), daily prone positioning time (OR = 0.482, 95%CI was 0.236-0.924), and 2-hour ROX index of prone position (OR = 0.381, 95%CI was 0.169-0.861) were protective factors.
CONCLUSIONS: Early awake prone positioning in patients with mild-to-moderate ARDS supported by HFNC is safe and feasible, reducing the use rate and duration of NIV, lowering the ICU transfer rate, and shortening the hospital stay. High BMI and non-asymptomatic hypoxemia are risk factors for failed prone position, while higher PaO2/FiO2 and the ROX index within 2 hours of prone position (the patient\'s good response to prone position), and prolonged daily prone position can improve the success rate of prone position.

BACKGROUND: Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) is one of the most common inherited neuropathies. The disease is generally characterized by sensory loss most prominent in distal extremities, muscle weakness, and muscle wasting. There is still no effective therapy for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.
METHODS: The patient is a 6-year-old Iranian girl, of Fars ethnicity, who was admitted with a chief complaint of hoarseness and an impression of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 4B. She was initially treated with noninvasive ventilation and, after a year, electively underwent cordotomy as a novel therapeutic approach.
CONCLUSIONS: Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 4B is a less common but important cause of stridor. Noninvasive ventilation treatment and unilateral posterior cordotomy can be utilized for hereditary neuropathies.

BACKGROUND:  High-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) oxygenation has emerged as a convenient and handy oxygenation mode over the past few years, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. HFNC is designed to provide humidified oxygen at high flow rates to subjects in a much more patient-compliant method. Noninvasive ventilation (NIV) has been a powerful tool in treating dyspneic patients of different etiologies, yielding positive outcomes over many decades. HFNC has the potential to serve as an alternative to NIV for acutely breathless patients, offering better patient compliance.
METHODS:  A prospective observational study was conducted with a population size of 100 patients. The patients were randomly assigned to HFNC and NIV groups and further compared based on the clinical criteria, arterial oxygen pressure (PaO2)/fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2) ratios, and modified Borg score. Simple proportions, mean, standard deviation, and chi-square tests were used. The chi-square test was applied to determine the association between the two attributes.
RESULTS:  Both HFNC and NIV subset populations have shown substantial improvement in their clinical criteria in terms of respiratory rate, heart rate, oxygen saturation, PaO2/FiO2 ratios, and modified Borg score over two and six hours with statistically significant improvement in oxygen saturations among HFNC subset in comparison to NIV subset (at two hours, p = 0.004; at six hours, p = 0.022). Secondary outcomes like the need for intubation (14% in HFNC, 22% in NIV) and mortality (4% in HFNC, 6% in NIV group) were noted, which were statistically insignificant in comparing their efficacy.
CONCLUSIONS:  The study concluded that HFNC resulted in better clinical parameters than NIV, but the difference was statistically insignificant except for oxygen saturation. Similarly, HFNC resulted in a decreased need for intubation and less mortality compared to NIV.

The impact of disease-modifying therapy ranges from cure to no impact with a wide range of intermediates. In cases where the intermediate group reaches a plateau after the acquisition of some muscle strength, it is necessary to set a functional level appropriate for increased motor power and establish a long-term exercise plan to maintain it. As the disease status stabilizes and the life span increases, early nonsurgical interventions are required, such as using a standing frame to prevent joint contracture, applying a spinal brace at the early stage of scoliosis, and maintaining sitting postures that exaggerate lumbar lordosis. In cases where scoliosis and hip displacement occur and progress even after conservative managements are implemented, early referral to surgery should be considered. Oromotor activity and swallowing function are influenced not only by the effects of disease-modifying drugs, but also by post-birth experience and training. Therefore, although the feeding tube cannot be removed, it is necessary to make efforts to simulate the infant feeding development while maintaining partial oral feeding. Since the application period of non-invasive ventilators has increased, it has become more important to prevent long-term complications such as facial abrasion, skin allergy, orthodontic deformities, and maxillary flattening caused by the interface. Dual ventilator mode or interface can also be utilized.