A randomised controlled trial of high-flow nasal oxygen versus non-rebreathing oxygen face mask therapy in acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

A major limitation to providing oxygen therapy by high flow nasal oxygen (HFNO) delivery devices is its availability and therefore as an alternative many clinicians use a standard non rebreathing face mask (NRBM) in order to oxygenate their patients where low-flow nasal oxygen or simple facemask oxygen is not providing adequate respiratory support to achieve the target peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO). We aimed to determine the clinical effectiveness of HFNO versus NRBM in terms of improving patient outcome among patients admitted to our intensive care unit (ICU) during coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.

METHODS

In this prospective open labelled study, 122 COVID-19 patients presenting with acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure (AHRF) were randomised to receive either HFNO or NRBM to achieve the target SpO. The primary clinical outcome measured was device failure rate and secondary outcome was all-cause 28-day mortality rate.

RESULTS

The device failure rate was significantly higher in HFNO group (39% versus 21%, P = 0.030). Oxygen support with NRBM resulted in a reduced all mortality rate over HFNO (26.2% versus 45%) but the mortality rate after treatment failure in either group (HFNO or NRBM) remained high (91% versus 92%).

CONCLUSION

Oxygen support with NRBM results in both reduced device failure rate and higher survival among patients of COVID-19 with AHRF.