The Evaluation of COVID-19 Patients Treated with HFNC in ICU

Objective: Since the COVID-19 pandemic caused respiratory failure in many patients, oxygen delivery methods had to be diversified, and their numbers increased. High flow nasal cannula (HFNC), which has been shown beneficial in acute respiratory failure previously, also came to the fore. We aimed to investigate the efficacy of HFNC on patients hospitalized in intensive care units due to COVID-19. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively screened the patients followed in the intensive care unit due to COVID-19. Patients treated with HFNC performed the study group. We analyzed the relationship between demographics, laboratory results, treatment modalities, complications, and outcomes. Results: Among the 330 patients included mean ventilation duration with HFNC was 7.84 days. 170 (51.5%) patients intubated during HFNC treatment. Only 5 of them were extubated. Intubated patients had higher mean HFNC duration (9.74 days - min: 2, max: 49) compared to nonintubated patients (6.05 days - min: 1, max: 30). There was a significant relationship between mortality and age (OR: 1.04), APACHE II score (OR: 1.35), having cancer (OR: 3.89), receiving NIV (OR: 5.94), and presence of secondary bacterial infection (OR: 44.6). Conclusion: HFNC, whose benefit in acute respiratory failure has been proven, is also widely and successfully used in COVID-19 patients. Comprehensive randomized studies are needed to demonstrate the effect of HFNC use on intubation requirement and mortality. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Turkish Journal of Intensive Care is the property of Galenos Yayinevi Tic. LTD. STI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)