Effect of Early High-Flow Nasal Oxygen vs Standard Oxygen Therapy on Length of Hospital Stay in Hospitalized Children With Acute Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure
Authors: Franklin Donna , Babl Franz E. , George Shane , Oakley Ed , Borland Meredith L. , Neutze Jocelyn , Acworth Jason , Craig Simon , Jones Mark , Gannon Brenda , Shellshear Deborah , McCay Hamish , Wallace Alexandra , Hoeppner Tobias , Wildman Mark , Mattes Joerg , Pham Trang M. T. , Miller Letitia , Williams Amanda , O’Brien Sharon , Lawrence Shirley , Bonisch Megan , Gibbons Kristen , Moloney Susan , Waugh John , Hobbins Sue , Grew Simon , Fahy Rose , Dalziel Stuart R. , Schibler Andreas 
Published: January 2023

Importance

Nasal high-flow oxygen therapy in infants with bronchiolitis and hypoxia has been shown to reduce the requirement to escalate care. The efficacy of high-flow oxygen therapy in children aged 1 to 4 years with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure without bronchiolitis is unknown.

Objective

To determine the effect of early high-flow oxygen therapy vs standard oxygen therapy in children with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure.

Design, Setting, and Participants

A multicenter, randomized clinical trial was conducted at 14 metropolitan and tertiary hospitals in Australia and New Zealand, including 1567 children aged 1 to 4 years (randomized between December 18, 2017, and March 18, 2020) requiring hospital admission for acute hypoxemic respiratory failure. The last participant follow-up was completed on March 22, 2020.

Interventions

Enrolled children were randomly allocated 1:1 to high-flow oxygen therapy (n = 753) or standard oxygen therapy (n = 764). The type of oxygen therapy could not be masked, but the investigators remained blinded until the outcome data were locked.

Main Outcomes and Measures

The primary outcome was length of hospital stay with the hypothesis that high-flow oxygen therapy reduces length of stay. There were 9 secondary outcomes, including length of oxygen therapy and admission to the intensive care unit. Children were analyzed according to their randomization group.

Results

Of the 1567 children who were randomized, 1517 (97%) were included in the primary analysis (median age, 1.9 years [IQR, 1.4-3.0 years]; 732 [46.7%] were female) and all children completed the trial. The length of hospital stay was significantly longer in the high-flow oxygen group with a median of 1.77 days (IQR, 1.03-2.80 days) vs 1.50 days (IQR, 0.85-2.44 days) in the standard oxygen group (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.83 [95% CI, 0.75-0.92]; P &amp;lt; .001). Of the 9 prespecified secondary outcomes, 4 showed no significant difference. The median length of oxygen therapy was 1.07 days (IQR, 0.50-2.06 days) in the high-flow oxygen group vs 0.75 days (IQR, 0.35-1.61 days) in the standard oxygen therapy group (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.78 [95% CI, 0.70-0.86]). In the high-flow oxygen group, there were 94 admissions (12.5%) to the intensive care unit compared with 53 admissions (6.9%) in the standard oxygen group (adjusted odds ratio, 1.93 [95% CI, 1.35-2.75]). There was only 1 death and it occurred in the high-flow oxygen group.

Conclusions and Relevance

Nasal high-flow oxygen used as the initial primary therapy in children aged 1 to 4 years with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure did not significantly reduce the length of hospital stay compared with standard oxygen therapy.

Trial Registration

anzctr.org.au Identifier: ACTRN12618000210279