Comparison of nasal cannulae with face mask for oxygen administration to postoperative patients

Thirty postoperative patients were allocated randomly to receive oxygen by Hudson face mask at 4 litre min-1 (group I) or 2 litre min-1 (group II) via nasal cannulae. From 22:00 on the first night after operation, the position of the nasal cannula or face mask was observed for 8 h using video and oxyhaemoglobin saturation (SpO2) recorded simultaneously. In group I the mask remained on and positioned correctly in five patients. In the 10 other patients it was removed a total of 28 times, 17 for nursing tasks, for a median time of 2 min 39 s (range 30 s to 7 h 40 min 40 s). In group II the nasal cannula was removed once in one patient for 16 min 38 s and eight times in another for a total of 1 h 18 min 7 s. Average SpO2 with mask on was 98% (range 96.1-99.9%), with mask off 95% (range 89.8-98.8%) and with cannula 97% (range 90.8-99.3%). We conclude that nasal cannulae are more likely to remain in position than face masks and maintain an adequate saturation in most patients.