PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Velasco Arnaiz, Eneritz
AU  - Cambra Lasaosa, Francisco José
AU  - Hernández Platero, Lluïsa
AU  - Millá Garcìa del Real, Núria
AU  - Pons Ódena, Martí
TI  - Is nasopharyngeal tube effective as interface to provide bilevel non-invasive ventilation?
AID  - 10.4187/respcare.02556
DP  - 2013 Aug 27
TA  - Respiratory Care
PG  - respcare.02556
4099  - http://rc.rcjournal.com/content/early/2013/08/27/respcare.02556.short
4100  - http://rc.rcjournal.com/content/early/2013/08/27/respcare.02556.full
AB  - Background: The nasopharyngeal tube (NT) is an interface for non-invasive ventilation (NIV) potentially available in all healthcare centers. The aim of the study was to describe our experience in the use of the NT for bilevel NIV in infants and its effectiveness. Methods: Prospective observational study from 01/2007 to 12/2010, including all patients aged 6 months or less admitted to Intensive Care (PICU) and treated with NIV with two levels of pressure using the NT. Clinical data collected before starting NIV, at 2, 8, 12 and 24 hours were analyzed according to the moment NIV was started: firstline or initial (i-NIV), elective post-extubation (e-NIV) and rescue post-extubation (r-NIV). The need for intubation was considered as NIV failure. Results: 151 episodes were included, 65% bronchiolitis. The most frequent use was e-NIV (48%) (i-NIV 44%, r-NIV 8%), and the failure rate, 27% in total, was highest in the i-NIV group (37%) (e-NIV 18%, r-NIV 25%). Successful cases had shorter PICU (8.5 vs. 13 days, p 0.001) and hospital (17 vs. 23 days, p 0.031) stays. The NT needed to be changed for another interface in only 5 cases, few complications (4/151) were observed and the mortality (2/151) was unrelated to NIV. Conclusions: NT showed 73% effectiveness, with few complications. The effectiveness was higher in e-NIV than i-NIV.