High-flow nasal cannula therapy for acute respiratory failure in patients with chest trauma: A single-center...

This retrospective study was performed to investigate the utility of high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) therapy in patients with chest trauma and identify the risk factors associated with treatment failure.

We identified 44 acute respiratory failure patients with chest trauma who received HFNC therapy between June 2016 and March 2019 at the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University. According to their response to HFNC therapy, the patients were divided into success and failure groups. Their medical records were reviewed retrospectively to identify useful risk factors for HFNC treatment failure.

Of the 44 patients, 25 and 19 patients were assigned to the HFNC success and failure groups, respectively. Compared with the success group, the failure group had a significantly higher rate of multiple rib fractures/flail chest (P = 0.035), higher Thoracic Trauma Severity Score (TTSS) (P = 0.001) and significantly longer ICU stay (P = 0.006) and hospital stay (P = 0.001). The mortality rate of the failure group was higher than that of the success group, but there was no significant difference (P = 0.414). High TTSS was a significant risk factor for treatment failure. The AUC of TTSS was 0.793. The cut-off value for TTSS was 14 points (sensitivity: 0.68, specificity: 0.84).

HFNC therapy was safe and effective in patients with chest trauma, and more than 50% of the patients successfully recovered from acute respiratory failure without invasive ventilation. A high TTSS could be a significant risk factor for HFNC treatment failure and had a high predictive performance.