High flow nasal cannula in the pediatric intensive care unit

Abstract

Introduction: The use of high flow nasal cannula (HFNC) has become widely used in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) throughout the world. The rapid adoption has outpaced the number of studies evaluating the safety and efficacy in a variety of pediatric diseases/conditions.

Areas covered: This scoping review begins with the definition and mechanisms of action of HFNC and then follows with a review of the literature focused on studies performed on critically ill children cared for in the PICU. The PubMed database was searched with a pediatric filter from the time period 2000 to 2021.

Expert opinion: The rapid adoption of HFNC in PICUs has largely been driven by changes in institutional practices and small observational studies. There is a lack of adequately powered studies evaluating patient-centered outcomes, such as intubation rates, mortality, PICU, and hospital length of stay. Given the wide variability in flow rates and clinical indications, more research is needed to better define effective flow rates for different disease states as well as markers of treatment success and failure. One particular entity that is poorly studied is the use of HFNC in those at risk for developing pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome (PARDS).

Keywords: High flow nasal cannula; acute lung injury; bronchiolitis; hypercapnia; hypoxia; infant; pediatric; pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome; pediatric intensive care unit.