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

• 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

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.