The role of high flow nasal oxygen therapy in anaesthesia

The delivery of oxygen is a key component of anaesthetic practice. High flow nasal oxygen therapy is a relatively new addition to more traditional means of oxygenation which provides heated and humidified flows of controlled oxygen/air mixes achieving rates of up to 120 litres/min. The physiological benefits include nasopharyngeal dead space washout, reduced work of breathing, alveolar recruitment, maintained mucociliary function and the ability to provide apnoeic oxygenation. This article considers the current evidence for high flow nasal oxygen therapy in perioperative anaesthetic care during pre-oxygenation and intubation, management of the difficult airway, oxygenation for shared airway surgery, extubation and postoperative support, obstetric and paediatric anaesthesia.