• Erdem Cevik, Deniz Dogan, Kursat Gumus, Derya Can, and Yahya A Acar.
• Faculty of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Health Sciences, 34668, Uskudar, Istanbul, Turkey. cevikerdem@yahoo.com.
• Ir J Med Sci. 2023 Aug 1; 192 (4): 193119371931-1937.

AimThis study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of disposable continuous positive airway pressure (DCPAP) system in decreasing the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO2) levels in patients with acute hypercapnic respiratory failure (AHRF).Material And MethodsThis retrospective observational study included patients treated in the emergency department (ED) with respiratory distress and PaCO2 > 45 mmHg. Patients were divided into two groups (DCPAP and non-DCPAP), depending on the treatment received to treat AHRF. The difference between the baseline PaCO2 levels in the first blood gas obtained from patients at the time of admission and the follow-up blood gas after treatment. Then, the calculated PaCO2 decrease was divided by the time elapsed to obtain the rate of decrease in PaCO2 levels in mmHg/min. The statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 18.0 software. A p value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.ResultsA total of 61 patients were included in the study, 31 patients in the DCPAP group and 30 patients in the non-DCPAP group. The mean age of the patients was 74.03 ± 10.04, and the male/female was 23/38. The study demonstrated a statistically significant difference between the DCPAP and non-DCPAP groups in terms of PaCO2 decreasing rate, and it was found to be twice higher in the DCPAP group (0.11 ± 0.07 mmHg/min) than in the non-DCPAP group (0.05 ± 0.06 mmHg/min).ConclusionThe study demonstrated that the treatment of AHRF patients with a DCPAP provides a faster decrease in PaCO2 levels in hypercapnic patients compared to standard medical therapy alone.© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland.

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