A Novel Scale to Assess Humidification during Noninvasive Ventilation: A Prospective Observational Study.

Objective: To develop a novel scale to assess humidification during noninvasive ventilation (NIV). Methods: This study was performed in an ICU of a teaching hospital. Three ICU practitioners with more than 10 years of clinical experience developed an oral humidification scale with a range of 1-4 points. Each studied the current literature on humidification and examined 50 images of mouths of NIV patients with different levels of humidification. Then, through discussion, a consensus scale was developed. Next, 10 practitioners and 33 NIV patients were recruited to validate the scale. Finally, the patients rated the dryness of their mouths using the 1-4 visual scale just after the practitioners' assessment. Talking and discussion were forbidden during the assessment, and the scorers were blinded to each other. Results: We performed 36 assessments in 33 NIV patients. Three patients were assessed twice each more than 2 days apart. The interitem correlation coefficients between the 10 practitioners ranged from 0.748 to 0.917. Fleiss's kappa statistic was 0.516, indicating moderate agreement among practitioners. Of the 33 patients, 5 (15%) were unable to make an assessment using the 1-4 visual scale. Among the remainder, 55.7% provided scores that matched those given by the practitioners; 13.7% of scores were 1 point higher than that rated by the practitioners, and 20.7% were 1 point lower. Only 10% were beyond a 1-point difference. The kappa coefficient was 0.483 between patients and practitioners. Conclusions: The oral humidification scale showed moderate agreement between practitioners. It was also highly accurate in reflecting the level of humidification assessed by patients.

Use of high-flow nasal cannula and noninvasive ventilation in patients with COVID-19: A multicenter observational study.

BACKGROUND: The use of high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) and noninvasive ventilation (NIV) in patients with COVID-19 is debated. METHODS: This study was performed in four hospitals of China from January to March 2020. We retrospectively enrolled 23 and 13 COVID-19 patients who used HFNC and NIV as first-line therapy, respectively. RESULTS: Among the 23 patients who used HFNC as first-line therapy, 10 experienced HFNC failure and used NIV as rescue therapy. Among the 13 patients who used NIV as first-line therapy, one (8%) used HFNC as rescue therapy due to NIV intolerance. The duration of HFNC + NIV (median 7.1, IQR: 3.5-12.2 vs. 7.3, IQR: 5.3-10.0 days), intubation rate (17% vs. 15%) and mortality (4% vs. 8%) did not differ between patients who used HFNC and NIV as first-line therapy. In total cohorts, 6 (17%) patients received intubation. Time from initiation of HFNC or NIV to intubation was 8.4 days (IQR: 4.4-18.5). And the time from initiation of HFNC or NIV to termination in patients without intubation was 7.1 days (IQR: 3.9-10.3). Among all the patients, C-reactive protein was independently associated with intubation (OR = 1.04, 95% CI: 1.01-1.07). In addition, no medical staff got nosocomial infection who participated in HFNC and NIV management. CONCLUSIONS: In critically ill patients with COVID-19 who used HFNC and NIV as first-line therapy, the duration of HFNC + NIV, intubation rate and mortality did not differ between two groups. And no medical staff got nosocomial infection during this study.

Risk factors for venous thrombosis associated with peripherally inserted central venous catheters.

To evaluate the risk factors associated with an increased risk of symptomatic peripherally inserted central venous catheter (PICC)-related venous thrombosis. Retrospective analyses identified 2313 patients who received PICCs from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2013. All 11 patients with symptomatic PICC-related venous thrombosis (thrombosis group) and 148 who did not have thromboses (non-thrombosis group) were selected randomly. The medical information of 159 patients (age, body mass index (BMI), diagnosis, smoking history, nutritional risk score, platelet count, leucocyte count as well as levels of D-dimer, fibrinogen, and degradation products of fibrin) were collected. Logistic regression analysis was undertaken to determine the risk factors for thrombosis. Of 2313 patients, 11 (0.47%) were found to have symptomatic PICC-related venous thrombosis by color Doppler ultrasound. Being bedridden for a long time (odds ratio [(OR]), 17.774; P=0.0017), D-dimer >5 mg/L (36.651; 0.0025) and suffering from one comorbidity (8.39; 0.0265) or more comorbidities (13.705; 0.0083) were the major risk factors for PICC-catheter related venous thrombosis by stepwise logistic regression analysis. Among 159 patients, the prevalence of PICC-associated venous thrombosis in those with ≥1 risk factor was 10.34% (12/116), in those with ≥2 risk factors was 20.41% (10/49), and in those with >3 risk factors was 26.67% (4/15). Being bedridden >72 h, having increased levels of D-dimer (>5 mg/L) and suffering from comorbidities were independent risk factors of PICC-related venous thrombosis.