Current opinion in infectious diseases
-
Curr. Opin. Infect. Dis. · Apr 2021
ReviewNoninvasive ventilation and high-flow oxygen therapy for severe community-acquired pneumonia.
We review the evidence on the use of noninvasive respiratory supports (noninvasive ventilation and high-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy) in patients with acute respiratory failure because of severe community-acquired pneumonia. ⋯ Noninvasive ventilation is the first-line therapy in patients with acute hypercapnic respiratory failure because of pneumonia. Although an increasing amount of evidence investigated the application of noninvasive respiratory support to hypoxemic respiratory failure, the optimal ventilatory strategy in this setting is uncertain. Noninvasive mechanical ventilation delivered by helmet and high-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy appear as promising tools but their role needs to be confirmed by future research.