Differences in neurophysiologic effects between CPAP and a novel high-flow therapy system

Abstract

CPAP therapy for respiratory insufficiency is an established and accepted mode of therapy; however, patient compliance remains an issue. Recent studies have shown that high-flow therapy (HFT), which uses high flows of warmed and humidified air/O2 mixtures through a nasal cannula, can also be effective in treating respiratory insufficiency. Although a nasal cannula is commonly preferred over a CPAP mask, patient comfort with HFT and CPAP has not been measured empirically. We sought to examine the autonomic neurophysiologic responses as a measure of comfort between these therapies.