• John Schutzer-Weissmann, Thomas Wojcikiewicz, Anil Karmali, Asta Lukosiute, Ruoyi Sun, Rafiq Kanji, Ahmed R Ahmed, Sanjay Purkayastha, Stephen J Brett, and Jonathan Cousins.
• Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK; The Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK. Electronic address: j.weissmann@nhs.net.
• Br J Anaesth. 2023 Jan 1; 130 (1): 103110103-110.

BackgroundObesity is a risk factor for airway-related incidents during anaesthesia. High-flow nasal oxygen has been advocated to improve safety in high-risk groups, but its effectiveness in the obese population is uncertain. This study compared the effect of high-flow nasal oxygen and low-flow facemask oxygen delivery on duration of apnoea in morbidly obese patients.MethodsMorbidly obese patients undergoing bariatric surgery were randomly allocated to receive either high-flow nasal (70 L min-1) or facemask (15 L min-1) oxygen. After induction of anaesthesia, the patients were apnoeic for 18 min or until peripheral oxygen saturation decreased to 92%.ResultsEighty patients were studied (41 High-Flow Nasal Oxygen, 39 Facemask). The median apnoea time was 18 min in both the High-Flow Nasal Oxygen (IQR 18-18 min) and the Facemask (inter-quartile range [IQR], 4.1-18 min) groups. Five patients in the High-Flow Nasal Oxygen group and 14 patients in the Facemask group desaturated to 92% within 18 min. The risk of desaturation was significantly lower in the High-Flow Nasal Oxygen group (hazard ratio=0.27; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.11-0.65; P=0.007).ConclusionsIn experienced hands, apnoeic oxygenation is possible in morbidly obese patients, and oxygen desaturation did not occur for 18 min in the majority of patients, whether oxygen delivery was high-flow nasal or low-flow facemask. High-flow nasal oxygen may reduce desaturation risk compared with facemask oxygen. Desaturation risk is a more clinically relevant outcome than duration of apnoea. Individual physiological factors are likely to be the primary determinant of risk rather than method of oxygen delivery.Clinical Trial RegistrationNCT03428256.Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

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