High-flow nasal cannula in Spanish Pediatric Intensive Care Services: A national web survey about its use and indications

Objective

To describe the high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) indications in the Spanish pediatric critical care units (PICUs).

Design

Descriptive cross-sectional observational study.

Setting

Electronic survey among members of the Spanish Society of Pediatric Intensive Care (SECIP). It was sent weekly from April 10, 2023, to May 21, 2023.

Participants

All SECIP members.

Interventions

None.

Main variables of interest

The questions focused on workplace, years of experience, use or non-use of HFNC, justification and expectations regarding its application, starting point within each center, clinical criteria for indication, existence of clinical guidelines, evaluation during its use, and criteria and mode of withdrawal.

Results

Two hundred and two participants, 176 were from Spain. Of these, 87/176 had over ten years of experience. One hundred sixty two use HFNC and 66/162 have HFNC clinical guidelines. Acute bronchiolitis (138/162) and respiratory assistance after extubation (106/56) are the two main indications. For 62/162 HFNC may reduce therapeutic escalation. Neuromuscular diseases (105/162) and anatomical airway diseases (135/162) are the two main contraindications. The reasons to do not use HFNC were the absence of evidence about it effectiveness (8/14) and its inadequate cost/effectiveness balance (8/14).

Conclusions

A majority of Spanish pediatric intensivists use HFNC. Its application and withdrawal appears to be primarily based on clinical experience. Besides, those who use HFNC are aware of its limitations and the lack of evidence in some cases. It is necessary to develop single-center and multicenter studies to elucidate the effectiveness of this therapy in the context of critically ill children.