Efficiency and safety of nasal positive airway pressure systems during endoscopic procedures in high-risk patients: Endo-Breath study.

Sedation of high-risk patients is a relevant issue in interventional endoscopy. This is especially because standard oximetric monitors display only hypoxia and not the preceding hypercapnia. Therefore, the question arises whether use of a nasal positive airway pressure (nPAP) system can decrease the rate of sedation-associated events. A randomized, prospective trial was conducted at University Hospital Ulm, including 98 consecutive patients, identified as high-risk (American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status ≥3) and scheduled for prolonged (>15 minutes) endoscopic procedures. Patients underwent 1:1 randomization to two groups: interventional (nPAP-Mask) and control (conventional oxygen supplementation). Levels of CO were measured noninvasively by transcutaneous capnometry device. The primary outcome was incidence of hypoxia (SpO <90% over 10 seconds) and incidence of severe hypoxia was incidence of SpO <80% over 10 seconds. One of our secondary objectives was to determine if the nPAP-Mask could result in significant CO retention among high-risk patients. Data analysis showed lower incidence of hypoxia in the interventional group (10/47 vs. 31/251) <0.05. Episodes of severe hypoxia (SpO <80% over 10 seconds) were more frequent in the control group (8/51) compared with the intervention group (2/47) <0.05. There was no significant difference in ΔCO levels in the interventional vs. control group (-6.01±7.66 vs. -7.35±8.59 mm Hg). In high-risk patients use of a nasal positive airway pressure system could significantly lower risk of hypoxia, especially in prolonged procedures. The nPAP-Mask does not induce CO retention when compared with conventional oxygen supplementation.