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A comparison of high-flow nasal cannula versus non-invasive positive pressure ventilation for respiratory support in infants following cardiac surgery

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2022

Asaad G. Beshish*
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Cardiology, Emory University School of Medicine, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA
Susan Hupp
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Cardiology, Emory University School of Medicine, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA
Rebecca Dryer
Affiliation:
Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
Mohua Basu
Affiliation:
3Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA
Ginger Weido
Affiliation:
Respiratory Department, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA
Subhadra Shashidharan
Affiliation:
Department of Surgery, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA
Kevin O. Maher
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Cardiology, Emory University School of Medicine, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA
Michael P. Fundora
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Cardiology, Emory University School of Medicine, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA
*
Author for correspondence: Asaad. G. Beshish, MD, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Emory University School of Medicine, 2835 Brandywine Rd, Suite 400, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA. Tel: +1 – 404 – 256 – 2593; Fax: +1 – 770 – 488 – 9425. E-mails: beshish@kidsheart.com; abeshis@emory.edu
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Abstract

Background:

Following cardiac surgery, infants often remain endotracheally intubated upon arrival to the cardiac ICU. High-flow nasal cannula and non-invasive positive pressure ventilation are used to support patients following extubation. There are limited data on the superiority of either mode to prevent extubation failure.

Methods:

We conducted a single-centre retrospective study for infants (<1 year) and/or <10 kg who underwent cardiac surgery between 3/2019–3/2020. Data included patient and clinical characteristics and operative variables. The study aimed to compare high-flow nasal cannula versus non-invasive positive pressure ventilation following extubation and their association with extubation failure. Secondarily, we examined risk factors associated with extubation failure.

Results:

There were 424 patients who met inclusion criteria, 320 (75%) were extubated to high-flow nasal cannula, 104 (25%) to non-invasive positive pressure ventilation, and 64 patients (15%) failed extubation. The high-flow nasal cannula group had lower rates of extubation failure (11%, versus 29%, p = 0.001). Infants failing extubation were younger and had higher STAT score (p < 0.05). Compared to high-flow nasal cannula, non-invasive positive pressure ventilation patients were at 3.30 times higher odds of failing extubation after adjusting for patient factors (p < 0.0001).

Conclusions:

Extubation failure after cardiac surgery occurs in smaller, younger infants, and those with higher risk surgical procedures. Patients extubated to non-invasive positive pressure ventilation had 3.30 higher odds to fail extubation than patients extubated to high-flow nasal cannula. The optimal mode of respiratory support in this patient population is unknown.

Information

Type
Original Article
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press
Figure 0

Table 1. Patient characteristics stratified by type of respiratory support following extubation.

Figure 1

Table 2. Patient characteristics in the high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) group stratified by extubation failure.

Figure 2

Table 3. Patient characteristics in the non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) group stratified by extubation failure.

Figure 3

Table 4. Etiology of extubation failure.

Figure 4

Table 5. Crud and adjusted odds ratio for extubation failure by support type.

Figure 5

Table 6. Crude and adjusted odds ratio for non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) versus high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) respiratory support type, stratified by weight, and neonates.