The pathophysiological characteristics of the respiratory system of obese patients differ from those of non-obese patients. Few studies have evaluated the effects of high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) and non-invasive ventilation (NIV) on the prognosis of obese patients. We here compared the effects of these two techniques on the prevention of reintubation after extubation for obese patients.
Data were extracted from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care database. Patients who underwent HFNC or NIV treatment after extubation were assigned to the HFNC or NIV group, respectively. The reintubation risk within 96 hours postextubation was compared between the two groups using a doubly robust estimation method. Propensity score matching was performed for both groups.
This study included 757 patients (HFNC group: n=282; NIV group: n=475). There was no significant difference in the risk of reintubation within 96 hours after extubation for the HFNC group compared with the NIV group (OR 1.50, p=0.127). Among patients with body mass index ≥40 kg/m2, the HFNC group had a significantly lower risk of reintubation within 96 hours after extubation (OR 0.06, p=0.016). No significant differences were found in reintubation rates within 48 hours (15.6% vs 11.0%, p=0.314) and 72 hours (16.9% vs 13.0%, p=0.424), as well as in hospital mortality (3.2% vs 5.2%, p=0.571) and intensive care unit (ICU) mortality (1.3% vs 5.2%, p=0.108) between the two groups. However, the HFNC group had significantly longer hospital stays (14 days vs 9 days, p=0.005) and ICU (7 days vs 5 days, p=0.001) stays.
This study suggests that HFNC therapy is not inferior to NIV in preventing reintubation in obese patients and appears to be advantageous in severely obese patients. However, HFNC is associated with significantly longer hospital stays and ICU stays.

Early airway management and respiratory support are essential for severe inhalation injury. Intratracheal delivery of drugs is better than other methods of administration, because of its higher local drug concentration, faster and more precise effect, and less systemic adverse reactions. It attracts more and more attention at present. In recent years, a growing number of drugs can be used in intratracheal delivery, in addition to common bronchodilators, mucolytics, and glucocorticoids, there are anti-inflammatory agents, antioxidants, and anticoagulants, etc. It is of great significance to improve the prognosis of patients with inhalation injuries with intratracheal delivery of drugs in goal-targeted therapy.
重度吸入性损伤早期气道管理和呼吸支持至关重要。气道内给药相比其他给药方式，具有呼吸道局部药物浓度高、起效快、疗效确切以及全身不良反应少等优势，越来越受到人们的重视。近年来，可用于气道吸入的药物种类日益增多，除了常用的支气管扩张剂、黏液溶解剂和糖皮质激素外，还包括抗炎剂、抗氧化剂、抗凝剂等。经气道内药物吸入作为一种目标靶向治疗方法，对改善吸入性损伤患者预后具有重要意义。.

Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) is increasingly used in addition to exercise training in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with the purpose to allow them to train at higher intensities. Different modalities of assisted ventilation have been used with benefits for relief of dyspnoea and increase in exercise capacity. Nevertheless there are some potential problems with the use of NIV in pulmonary rehabilitation programmes. Despite promising results, a generalised use of NIV during exercise training programmes is unlikely to have a role in routine settings. The use of NIV during exercise training as a component of pulmonary rehabilitation should be reserved to individual cases.