Characteristics of prolonged noninvasive ventilation in emergency departments and impact upon effectiveness. Analysis of the VNICat registry.

Objective: To analyze the characteristics and variables associated with prolonged noninvasive ventilation performed completely in Emergency Departments (NIV-ED) and its influence upon effectiveness.

Design: A prospective, multicenter, observational multipurpose cohort study was carried out.

Setting: VNICAT Registry.

Subjects: Patients in which NIV-ED was performed in 11 Catalan hospitals in the months of February or March 2015.

Intervention: No.

Variables: The study variable was NIV-ED, which as a function of time was defined as prolonged or not prolonged. The efficacy variable was the success of the technique in terms of patient improvement.

Results: A total of 125 patients were included, with a median NIV-ED duration of 12 h, which was the cut-off point for the comparator groups. In 60 cases (48%) NIV-ED was not prolonged (<12 h), while in 65 cases (52%) ventilation was prolonged (≥12 h). Non-prolonged NIV-ED was associated to the indication of acute heart failure and prolonged ventilation to the presence of diabetes. There were no differences between non-prolonged and prolonged NIV-ED in terms of efficacy, and the success rate in terms of improvement was 68.3% and 76.9%, respectively, with an adjusted odds ratio of 1.49 (95%CI 0.61-3.60).

Conclusions: Prolonged NIV-ED is a frequent situation, but few variables associated to it have been studied. The presence of prolonged ventilation did not influence the success rate of NIV.