Population, intervention, comparison, outcomes (PICO) questions and recommendations
| 1. Should HFNC or COT be used in patients with acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure? | The ERS task force suggests the use of HFNC over COT in patients with acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure (conditional recommendation, moderate certainty of evidence) |
| 2. Should HFNC or NIV be used in patients with acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure? | The ERS task force suggests the use of HFNC over NIV in acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure (conditional recommendation, very low certainty of evidence) |
| 3. Should HFNC or COT be used during breaks from NIV in patients with acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure? | The ERS task force suggests the use of HFNC over COT during breaks from NIV in patients with acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure (conditional recommendation, low certainty of evidence) |
| 4. Should HFNC or COT be used in post-operative patients after extubation? | The ERS task force suggests the use of either COT or HFNC in post-operative patients at low risk of respiratory complications (conditional recommendation, low certainty of evidence) |
| 5. Should HFNC or NIV be used in post-operative patients after extubation? | The ERS task force suggests the use of either HFNC or NIV in post-operative patients at high risk of respiratory complications (conditional recommendation, low certainty of evidence) |
| 6. Should HFNC or COT be used in nonsurgical patients after extubation? | The ERS task force suggests the use of HFNC over COT in nonsurgical patients after extubation (conditional recommendation, low certainty of evidence) |
| 7. Should HFNC or NIV be used in nonsurgical patients after extubation? | The ERS task force suggests the use of NIV over HFNC for patients at high risk of extubation failure, unless there are absolute or relative contraindications to NIV (conditional recommendation, moderate certainty of evidence) |
| 8. Should HFNC or NIV be used in patients with acute hypercapnic respiratory failure? | The ERS task force suggests a trial of NIV prior to use of HFNC in patients with COPD and acute hypercapnic respiratory failure (conditional recommendation, low certainty of evidence) |
HFNC: high-flow nasal cannula; COT: conventional oxygen therapy; NIV: noninvasive ventilation; ERS: European Respiratory Society.