Is continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) a new standard of care for type 1 respiratory failure in COVID-19 patients? A retrospective observational study of a dedicated COVID-19 CPAP service

The aim of this case series is to describe and evaluate our experience of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) to treat type 1 respiratory failure in patients with COVID-19. CPAP was delivered in negative pressure rooms in the newly repurposed infectious disease unit. We report a cohort of 24...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mike Beadsworth, Gareth Jones, Kathryn Haigh, Rebecca Nightingale, Manish Gautam, Nneka Nwosu, Farheen Kutubudin, Joe Lewis, Frederick Frost, Deborah Brown, Michael Abouyannis, Peter Hampshire, Stephen Aston, Hassan Burhan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2020-05-01
Series:BMJ Open Respiratory Research
Online Access:https://bmjopenrespres.bmj.com/content/7/1/e000639.full
Description
Summary:The aim of this case series is to describe and evaluate our experience of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) to treat type 1 respiratory failure in patients with COVID-19. CPAP was delivered in negative pressure rooms in the newly repurposed infectious disease unit. We report a cohort of 24 patients with type 1 respiratory failure and COVID-19 admitted to the Royal Liverpool Hospital between 1 April and 30 April 2020. Overall, our results were positive; we were able to safely administer CPAP outside the walls of a critical care or high dependency unit environment and over half of patients (58%) avoided mechanical ventilation and a total of 19 out of 24 (79%) have survived and been discharged from our care.
ISSN:2052-4439