Abstract

SCALA, Raffaele  and  NALDI, Mario. Non-Invasive Positive Pressure Ventilation in Acute Hypercapnic Respiratory Failure: Ten-Year's Clinical Experience of a Respiratory Semi-Intensive Care Unit. Rev. Cienc. Salud [online]. 2007, vol.5, n.3, pp.07-23. ISSN 1692-7273.

Background Although several prospective controlled randomized trials demonstrated the success of non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) in selected cases of acute hypercapnic respiratory failure (ARF) in setting with different care levels, clinical practice data about the use of VNI in the “real world” are limited. Aim To report the results of our clinical experience in NIPPV applied for ARF in the Respiratory Semi-Intensive Care Unit (UTSIR) allocated within the Respiratory Division of Arezzo between the years 1996- 2006 in terms of: patient tolerance, effects upon arterial blood gases, success rate and predictors of failure. Methods: Three hundred and filthy out of the 1484 patients (23.6%) consecutively admitted for ARF to our Respiratory Division during the study period received NIPPV in addition to standard therapy, according to the predetermined routinely used criteria. Results: Eight patients (2.3%) did not tolerate NIPPV because of mask discomfort, while the remaining 342 (M: 240, F: 102); median (interquartiles) age: 74.0 (68.0-79.3) yrs; COPD: 69.3%) were ventilated for >1 hour. Arterial blood gases significantly improved after two hours of NIPPV (mean (standard deviation) pH: 7.33 (0.07) versus 7.28 (7.25-7.31), p<0.0001; PaCO₂: 71.4 (15.3) mmHg versus 80.8 (16.6) mmHg, p<0.0001; PaO₂/FiO₂: 205 (61) versus 183 (150-222), p<0.0001). NIPPV avoided intubation in 285/342 (83.3%) with a hospital mortality of 14.0%. NIPPV failure was independently predicted by the Apache III (Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation III) score, the body mass index and by the late failure of NIPPV (> 48 hrs of ventilation) after an initial positive response. Conclusions: As results of ten years of clinical experience at our UTSIR, NIPPV was shown to be well tolerated, effective in improving arterial blood gases and useful in avoiding intubation in most ARF episodes non-responsive to standard therapy.

Keywords : Non-invasive ventilation; respiratory care unit; endotracheal intubation; hospital mortality; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

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