2Fethi Sekin City Hospital , Department of Otolaryngology, Elazıg, Turkey DOI : 10.31086/tjgeri.2022.299 Background: There is insufficient evidence regarding the effectiveness of non-invasive continuous positive airway pressure and high-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy to reduce the requirement of invasive mechanical ventilation in geriatric patients with coronavirus disease-2019 pneumonia. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of two oxygenation therapies in geriatric patients with coronavirus disease-2019 pneumonia.
Material and Methods: Data from 141 geriatric patients who underwent continuous positive airway pressure or high-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapies at the intensive care unit of the Anesthesiology and Reanimation Department, Elazıg Fethi Sekin City Hospital, between 1 April 2020 and 1 March 2021 were retrospectively investigated. The primary outcome of interest in our study was to compare patient mortality, patient characteristics and the effectiveness of two accepted respiratory support modalities.
Results: A total of 141 patients, 57 female (40.42%) and 84 male (59.58%), aged 65-99 years met the inclusion criteria. Baseline demographic data and pre-existing comorbidities of geriatric patients with coronavirus disease-2019 pneumonia were recorded. The most common comorbidity was hypertension (69.7%). Of the 65 patients treated with high-flow nasal cannula oxygen, 36 were intubated; 18 of these intubated patients died (27%). Of the 76 patients who were treated with continuous positive airway pressure,28 were intubated;19 of these intubated patients died (25%).
Conclusion: In this retrospective observational study, continuous-positive airway pressure or high-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy in geriatric patients with coronavirus disease-2019 was associated with a lower risk of invasive mechanical ventilation and no significant difference was found in patient mortality due to either treatment modality.
Keywords : Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, Geriatrics, COVID-19