Iatrogenic infection associated with positive airway pressure therapy: A review of precedent, epidemiology, bioaerosols and risk mitigation.

Currently, evidence-based guidelines about cleaning positive airway pressure devices for maintenance or reprocessing for a new user do not exist. There is no strong evidence of harm caused by contaminated positive airway pressure equipment. Future research opportunities exist to streamline cleaning processes, assure hygiene, and reduce waste.

The Role of High Flow Nasal Therapy in Chronic Respiratory Failure.

High-flow nasal therapy (HFNT) has an increasing role in the management of acute hypoxic respiratory failure. Due to its tolerable interface and ease of use, its role in chronic hypercapnic respiratory failure (CHRF) is emerging. This article examines the literature to date surrounding the short and long-term mechanisms of HFNT in sleep and wakefulness of CHRF patients.

Hypercapnia is not excluded by normoxia in neuromuscular disease patients: implications for oximetry.

Background: Pulse oximetry is widely used in the assessment of chronic respiratory failure in neuromuscular disease (NMD) patients. Chronic respiratory failure is the major cause of morbidity and mortality, necessitating early diagnosis and intervention. Guidelines suggest that an arterial blood gas (ABG) measurement is indicated if oxygen saturation ( ) is ≤94% in the absence of lung disease.

Online Education Improves Confidence in Mechanical Insufflation-Exsufflation.

Background: Mechanical insufflation-exsufflation (MI-E) is a cough augmentation technique used to support people with an ineffective cough. MI-E can be complex due to the number of different pressure, flow, and temporal setting adjustments needed to optimize cough efficacy. Many clinicians identify inadequate training, limited experience, and low confidence as barriers to MI-E use.