Effectiveness of high flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy in bronchiolitis patients: A nested case control study

Abstract

Background and aims High Flow Nasal Cannula oxygen (HFNC) is becoming a commonly used respiratory support modality in tertiary pediatric units. We aimed to evaluate effectiveness of HFNC in bronchiolitis patients in a non-tertiary setting requiring retrieval versus those who were discharged home. Methods Nested case-control study design with 1:1 ratio of 'cases' defined as bronchiolitis patients treated with HFNC (2L/kg) requiring retrieval and randomly selected 'control' bronchiolitis patients treated with HFNC who were discharged home. Study period: 1st August 2011 to 31st July 2015. Results During study period, 22/25 bronchiolitis(88%) patients requiring retrieval were treated with HFNC. They were compared to 22 bronchiolitis patients treated with HFNC and discharged home. Significant improvement in mean(±SD) heart rate (HR) and median(iqr) respiratory rate (RR) occurred in controls but not in cases (Table 1). Conclusions HFNC with 2L/kg flows was safe in a non-tertiary setting with statistically significant decrease in mean HR at 1, 2 and 6 hours and median RR at 2 and 6 hours in responders (discharged patients) but not in patients requiring retrieval. (Table presented).L6138851492017-01-02 <br />