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Vol. 22. Issue 1.
Pages 54-56 (January 2016)
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Vol. 22. Issue 1.
Pages 54-56 (January 2016)
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Non-invasive ventilation in the treatment of acute and chronic exacerbated respiratory failure: What to expect outside the critical care units?
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M.E.. Brandãoa,
Corresponding author
mariaestevesbrandao@gmail.com

Corresponding author. mariaestevesbrandao@gmail.com
, B.. Condea, J.C.. Silvaa, R.. Reisa, A.. Afonsoa
a Respiratory Department, Centro Hospitalar de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal
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Dear Editor,

Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) undoubtedly brings benefits to the management of patients with acute respiratory failure. Although the number of indications has expanded rapidly due to increasing confidence in managing the technique, the optimal location for using NIV is still a matter of debate1, 2. The vast majority of published evidence is based on studies conducted in highly controlled settings such as respiratory intermediate care units (RICU) and intensive care units (ICU). These outcomes may not always be representative of everyday practice since the strict criteria used to select patients may result in the exclusion of the more elderly and those with major comorbidities. However, as RICU/ICU beds are limited in most countries, use of NIV in respiratory wards may be an appropriate solution in selected cases, resulting in better resource utilization.

In Portugal, there is limited data available on the use of NIV outside the RICU/ICU.3

The purpose of this letter is to report on our experience with ward-based NIV in the treatment of acute and chronic exacerbated respiratory failure. We retrospectively analyzed demographic and clinical data of all patients who had had a NIV trial in our respiratory ward during a two-year period (2012–2013). Multivariate analysis was performed on age, sex, pH and PaCO2 before NIV, FEV1 and number of exacerbations in the previous year, to identify predictors of prolonged ventilation time (ventilatory support for more than 9 days) or NIV failure (need for endotracheal intubation or death). Elective admissions for setting up domiciliary NIV and patients treated with Continuous Positive Airway Pressure were excluded.

During the study period, 75 admissions were included, which corresponded to 65 patients, mostly male (54.7%) with a mean age of age 72 ± 11.3 years. The demographic and clinical characteristics of all patients are summarized in Table 1. In the subgroup of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients, the mean FEV1 was 42.7 ± 16.3% of predicted, and 57% had had fewer than 2 exacerbations requiring hospitalization in the previous year.

Table 1. Demographic and baseline clinical characteristics of the study group (n = 75).

CharacteristicsNumber ± SD (or %)
Mean age (years)72 ± 11.3
Male sex41 (54.7%)
Smoking historya39 (52%)
LTOT47 (62.7%)
Domiciliary NIV13 (17.3%)
Hypercapnic respiratory failure68 (90.7%)
 
Indication for NIV
AECOPD42 (56%)
COPD/Sleep apnea overlap syndrome12 (16%)
Pneumonia5 (6.7%)
OHS4 (5.3%)
ACPE3 (4%)
Neuromuscular disease3 (4%)
Ventilator weaning3 (4%)
Other b3 (4%)
 
Mean arterial blood gases prior to NIV
pH
Hypercapnic patients7.29 ± 0.10
Non-hypercapnic patients7.43 ± 0.05
PaO2 (mmHg)
Hypercapnic patients57 ± 34
Non-hypercapnic patients56 ± 13
PaCO2 (mmHg)
Hypercapnic patients73 ± 22
Non-hypercapnic patients38 ± 9
 
Patients coming from
Emergency department57 (76%)
Intensive/intermediate care unit18 (22.8%)

ACPE, acute cardiogenic pulmonary edema; AECOPD, acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; LTOT, long-term oxygen therapy; NIV, non-invasive ventilation; OHS, obesity hypoventilation syndrome.

a Current or former smokers.

b Other conditions: acute respiratory distress syndrome and multifactorial hypoventilation.

At the time of admission, hypercapnic respiratory failure was predominant (90.7%), with a mean pH before NIV of 7.29 ± 0.10. The most frequent indication for NIV was acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD, 56%), followed by exacerbation of COPD/sleep apnea overlap syndrome (16%), pneumonia (6.7%), obesity hypoventilation syndrome decompensation (5.3%), acute cardiogenic pulmonary edema (4%) and respiratory failure in neuromuscular disease (4%). In 4% of cases, NIV was used as part of ventilator weaning strategy.

The median time under NIV was 9 days (the cut-off used to define prolonged ventilation time) and the median hospital length of stay was 14 days. The ventilation time did not differ between groups according to previous domiciliary NIV use. In 14 NIV-trials (18.7%), adverse effects related to NIV were reported, most frequently nasal bridge ulcers and mucosal dryness. None of these complications caused procedure withdrawal. NIV failed in eight patients (10.7%): two were intubated and six died. Half of the failures were on NIV for AECOPD. The mortality rate in the study sample was 8%. The causes of death were pneumonia (n = 4) and decompensation of comorbidities in patients with do-not intubate orders (n = 2).

Among the variables studied, none was a predictor of prolonged ventilation time either in the global sample of patients or in the subgroup of AECOPD. The pretreatment pH was an independent predictive factor for NIV failure in the overall population (OR 0.92; CI 95% 0.85–0.99; p = 0.034) (Table 2). We did not find any predictive factors for NIV failure in the AECOPD subgroup.

Table 2. Predictive variables of NIV failure.

Overall population (n = 75)
Clinical variableSuccess

n = 67
Failure

n = 8
p valueMultivariate analysisOR

(95% CI)
Age, mean ± SD72 ± 1179 ± 80.052 0.165 ° 1.07 (0.97–1.18)
 
Sex, n (%)
Female29 (43.3%)5 (62.5%)0.302 NANA
Male38 (56.7%)3 (37.5%)   
 
pH level prior to NIV, mean ± SD7.31 ± 0.107.21 ± 0.090.025 0.034 ° 0.92 (0.85–0.99)
PaCO2prior to NIV, mean ± SD70 ± 2471 ± 150.810 NANA
 
Number of exacerbations in the previous year, n (%)
<248 (71.6%)7 (87.5%)0.092 0.152 ° 5.8 (0.52–65.6)
≥219 (28.4%)1 (12.5%)   

AECOPD group (n = 42)
Clinical variableSuccess

n = 38
Failure

n = 4
p valueMultivariate analysisOR (95% CI)
Age, median (máx; mín)79 (92; 50)81 (88; 69)0.440 ¥NANA
 
Sex, n (%)
Female16 (42.1%)1 (25%)0.507 NANA
Male22 (57.9%)3 (75%)   
 
pH level prior to NIV, mean ± SD*7.29 ± 0.087.22 ± 0.090.214 NANA
PaCO2prior to NIV, mean ± SD*79 ± 2082 ± 60.516 NANA
 
Number of exacerbations in the previous year, n (%)
<220 (52.6%)4 (100%)0.069 NANA
≥218 (47.4%)0 (0%)   
 
Severity of airway obstruction
Mild to moderate (FEV1 ≥50%)10 (26.3%)2 (50%)0.201 NANA
Severe to very severe (FEV1 <50%)23 (60.5%)1 (25%)   

AECOPD, acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; FEV1, forced expiratory volume in 1 second; NA, not applicable; NIV, non-invasive ventilation.

* pH values were multiplied for 100. The OR obtained is for pH increments of 0.01.

T-test student.

‡ Chi-square test.

° Logistic regression.

¥ Mann–Whitney test.

Previous studies have shown that NIV delivered in the ward is effective in selected populations with reported success rates ranging between 66% and 85%.3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 In a Portuguese study including patients with severe AECOPD treated in a respiratory ward, Oliveira et al. obtained a high success rate of NIV treatment (82%).3 Improvement in arterial blood gases in the first 24 h was a determinant factor for NIV outcomes. On the other hand, Mclaughlin et al. have shown a lower success rate (66%) when using ward-based NIV with 392 AECOPD patients.8 However, these results may reflect differences in the severity of respiratory failure of the patients concerned (mean baseline pH of 7.24 versus 7.29 in our sample).

The importance of pretreatment pH level as a prognostic marker of NIV effectiveness in the ward was first highlighted by Plant et al., who found that patients whose pH was below 7.30 had significantly higher failure rates and in-hospital mortality.4 Our data also suggest that pretreatment pH is a useful predictor of NIV failure and should be considered when choosing the appropriate level of monitoring for each patient.

Other variables frequently reported as predictors of failure are pretreatment respiratory rate, Glasgow Coma Score, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II), absence of early improvement in blood gases and excessive secretions.9, 10 Given the retrospective nature of our study, the fact that severity scores for all patients were not available and the lack of standardized protocols guiding the use of NIV in our hospital, we were not able to evaluate the impact of those variables on the efficacy of NIV.

It is important to note that this is a single-center retrospective study, where NIV was delivered by experienced respiratory physicians and well-trained personnel. Thus, our results may not be reproducible in other general hospital wards.

We hope that the present study can fill a gap in Portuguese published data, giving a “real life” picture of the indications, outcomes, complications and clinical variables associated with failure of NIV in non-critical care setting.

In conclusion, our results suggest that NIV can be safely implemented in respiratory wards with a high success rate. It is our impression that successful implementation of NIV outside the RICU/ICU depends mostly on the monitoring capabilities of the ward and personnel resources available.

Conflicts of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Corresponding author. mariaestevesbrandao@gmail.com

Bibliography
[1]
Where should noninvasive ventilation be delivered?. Respir Care. 2009; 54:62-70.
[2]
Acute application of noninvasive ventilation outside the ICU: when is it safe?. Respir Care. 2012; 57:815-6.
[3]
Noninvasive ventilation (NIV) in severe acute exacerbation (AE) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in a ward. Rev Port Pneumol. 2003; 9:458-9.
[4]
Early use of non-invasive ventilation for acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on general respiratory wards: a multicentre randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2000; 355:1931-5.
[5]
Non-invasive positive pressure ventilation in acute hypercapnic respiratory failure: clinical experience of a respiratory ward. Monaldi Arch Chest Dis. 2004; 61:94-101.
[6]
Use of noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation on the regular hospital ward: experience and correlates of success. Respir Care. 2006; 51:1237-43.
[7]
Medical emergency team and non-invasive ventilation outside ICU for acute respiratory failure. Intensive Care Med. 2009; 35:339-43.
[8]
Ward-based non-invasive ventilation for hypercapnic exacerbations of COPD: a ‘real-life’ perspective. QJM: Mon J Assoc Physicians. 2010; 103:505-10.
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Causes of failure of noninvasive mechanical ventilation. Respiratory. 2004; 49:295-303.
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A chart of failure risk for noninvasive ventilation in patients with COPD exacerbation. ERJ. 2005; 25:348-55.
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