Safety and effectiveness of bubble continuous positive airway pressure as respiratory support for bronchiolitis in a pediatric ward
Authors: Agüera Marta , Melé-Casas Maria , Molina Maria Mercedes , Pons-Odena Martí , de-Sevilla Mariona F. , García-García Juan-José , Launes Cristian , Monfort Laura 
Published: September 2022

The results of several clinical trials suggest that continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) for acute bronchiolitis can be more effective than high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC). The use of HFNC involved a minimum reduction (5%) in admissions to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in our hospital. Our main aim was to evaluate its safety and effectiveness as respiratory support for patients with bronchiolitis in a pediatric general ward. A secondary goal was to compare the admissions to PICU and the invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) rate of patients treated with HFNC and those treated with HFNC/b-CPAP during the 2018–2019 and 2019–2020 epidemic seasons, respectively. Two prospective single-centre observational studies were performed. For the main aim, a cohort study (CS1) was carried out from 1st of November 2019 to 15th of January 2020. Inclusion criteria were children aged up to 3 months with bronchiolitis treated with b-CPAP support when HFNC failed. Epidemiological and clinical parameters were collected before and 60 min after the onset of CPAP and compared between the responder (R) and non-responders (NR) groups. NR was the group that required PICU admission. One hundred fifty-eight patients were admitted to the ward with bronchiolitis and HFNC. Fifty-seven out of one hundred fifty-eight required b-CPAP. No adverse events were observed. Thirty-two out of fifty-seven remained in the general ward (R-group), and 25/57 were admitted to PICU (NR-group). There were statistically significant differences in respiratory rate (RR) and heart rate (HR) between both groups before and after the initiation of b-CPAP, but the multivariable models showed that the main differences were observed after 60 min of therapy (lower HR, RR, BROSJOD score and FiO2 in the R-group). For the secondary aim, another cohort study (CS2) was performed comparing data from a pre-b-CPAP bronchiolitis season (1st of November 2018 to 15th January 2019) and the b-CPAP season (2019–2020). Inclusion criteria in pre-b-CPAP season were children aged up to 3 months admitted to the same general ward with moderate-severe bronchiolitis and with HFNC support. Admissions to PICU during the CPAP season were significantly reduced, without entailing an increase in the rate of IMV.

Conclusion: The implementation of b-CPAP for patients with bronchiolitis in a pediatric ward, in whom HFNC fails, is safe and effective and results in a reduction in PICU admissions.

What is Known:• Bronchiolitis is one of the most frequent respiratory infections in children and one of the leading causes of hospitalization in infants.• Several studies suggest that the use of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) for acute bronchiolitis can be more effective than the high flow nasal cannula (HFNC). CPAP is a non-invasive ventilation (NIV) therapy used in patients admitted to pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) with progressive moderate-severe bronchiolitis.There is little experience in the literature on the use of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) for acute bronchiolitis in a general ward.

What is New:• CPAP could be safely and effectively used as respiratory support in young infants with moderate-severe bronchiolitis in a general ward and it reduced the rate of patients who required PICU admission.• Patients' heart and respiratory rate and their FiO2 needs in the first 60 minutes may help to decide whether or not to continue the CPAP therapy in a general ward.