[Treatment with high-flow oxygen therapy in asthma exacerbations in a paediatric hospital ward: Experience from 2012...

To assess the experience with oxygen therapy with a high flow nasal cannula (HFNC) in hospital on patients with asthmatic exacerbation (AE) in a paediatric ward, and to assess the clinical outcome according with the initial oxygen flow (15lpm or <15lpm).

This was a retrospective study of children aged 4 to 15 years with AE admitted to a paediatric ward in a tertiary level hospital between 2012 and 2016. Two groups of patients were compared; Group 1: patients treated with HFNC, and Group 2: patients treated with conventional oxygen therapy. A logistic regression model was constructed in order to identify predictive variables of HFNC. The clinical outcome of the patients was also compared according to the initial flow of HFNC (15lpm VS <15lpm).

The study included a total of 536 patients with AE, 40 (7.5%) of whom required HFNC. The median age was 5 (4-6) years. Heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR) and Pulmonary Score (PS) significantly decreased at 3-6hours after starting HFNC in Group 1. In the multivariate analysis, patients with high Pulmonary Score values and greater number of previous admissions required HFNC more frequently. Patients treated with an initial flow of 15lpm were admitted less frequently to the PICU than those with an initial flow less than 15lpm (13% vs 47%, p=.05).

HFNC seems to be a useful therapy for asthma exacerbation in paediatric wards. Severity of Pulmonary Score and the number of previous admissions could enable a risk group that needs HFNC to be identified.