Aerosol delivery through adult high flow nasal cannula with heliox and oxygen

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Heliox (helium-oxygen mixture) has been shown to reduce turbulence and improve aerosol delivery in a range of clinical settings. We questioned whether heliox as compared with oxygen via high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) would affect aerosol delivery. We hypothesized that heliox would have a significant effect on aerosol delivery as compared with oxygen with both quiet and distressed breathing patterns. METHODS: A vibrating mesh nebulizer was placed at the inlet of a humidifier via HFNC with small adult cannula distal to the heated-wire circuit with prongs placed into simulated nares with a T-shaped trap and absolute filter connected to a breath simulator set to adult quiet and distressed breathing parameters. Albuterol sulfate (0.083% 2.5 mg/3 mL) was aerosolized with heliox (80:20) and oxygen (100%) at 10, 30, and 50 L/min. Drug eluted from the filter was assayed with UV spectrophotometry (276 nm). Descriptive statistics, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Mann-Whitney U test were used for data analysis. P