Pre-oxygenation using high-flow nasal oxygen versus tight facemask in trauma patients undergoing emergency anaesthesia.

Background: Patients suffering from major traumatic injuries frequently require emergency anaesthesia. Due to often compromised physiology and the time-sensitive management, trauma patients may be more prone to desaturate during induction of anaesthesia. We hypothesised that pre-oxygenation using high-flow nasal oxygen would decrease the risk of desaturation during induction of anaesthesia in trauma patients and the study therefore aimed to compare the frequency of desaturation when pre-oxygenation was performed with high-flow nasal oxygen or a traditional facemask.