Nasal High-flow versus non-invasive ventilation in stable hypercapnic COPD: a preliminary report

Jens Bräunlich; Hans-Jürgen Seyfarth; Hubert Wirtz

doi:10.1186/s40248-015-0019-y

Nasal High-flow versus non-invasive ventilation in stable hypercapnic COPD: a preliminary report

Multidiscip Respir Med. 2015 Sep 3;10(1):27. doi: 10.1186/s40248-015-0019-y. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Jens Bräunlich¹, Hans-Jürgen Seyfarth¹, Hubert Wirtz¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Respiratory Medicine, University of Leipzig, Liebigstr. 20, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.

Abstract

Background: There are no data available about effectiveness of Nasal High-flow (NHF)in chronic respiratory insufficiency.

Methods: Eleven COPD patients with stable hypercapnia were adjusted to NHF-system with a flow of 20 l/min. After six weeks patients were switched to non-invasive ventilation (NIV) for another six weeks period.

Results: NHF led to significant decreases in resting pCO2. Between the devices we found no differences in pCO2 levels.

Conclusions: NHF may thus be an alternative treatment device in stable hypercapnic COPD patients.

Keywords: COPD; High-flow nasal cannula; Hypercapnia; Nasal High-flow; Noninvasive ventilation; Significant decrease in capillary pCO2.