European Respiratory Society clinical practice guideline on telemedicine in home mechanical ventilation

With the increasing prevalence of patients on home mechanical ventilation (HMV), changing indications, shortage of hospital resources and rapidly evolving technology, there is an urgent need for evaluating the added value of telemedicine in initiation and follow-up of HMV. This European Respiratory Society (ERS) clinical practice guideline provides evidence-based recommendations on the use of telemedicine in HMV.

The ERS Task Force consisted of 20 members, including a patient representative and her caregiver. The Task Force addressed five PICO (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome) questions and three narrative questions. Systematic searches were performed in MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane and CINAHL. Evidence was synthesised by conducting meta-analyses, when possible, or when not, narratively. Certainty of evidence was rated with GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) guidance. The Evidence-to-Decision framework was used to decide on the direction and formulate strengths of recommendations.

The panel makes a conditional recommendation for the initiation of HMV with telemedicine in patients with neuromuscular diseases or restrictive thoracic diseases and in patients with COPD. No recommendation could be made for obesity hypoventilation syndrome. The panel conditionally recommends the use of telemedicine for the follow-up of patients on HMV, although could not make recommendations on parameters to be monitored. Suggestions were mainly based on theoretical benefits and patient preferences, as our confidence in the evidence was low.

With these guidelines, clinical practice recommendations are provided for the use of telemedicine in HMV. Technological advances and the use of advanced data processing algorithms and artificial intelligence were identified as drivers for future research and telemedicine use.