Home noninvasive ventilation in pediatric patients: Does one size fit all?

Background

A French national survey showed that 1447 children were treated with long-term continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) or noninvasive ventilation (NIV) in 2019. Data about the ventilatory settings for children are scarce. The aim of the study was to report the CPAP/NIV settings from the survey according to the patients’ age and disorders.

Methods

CPAP and NIV settings were compared between 5 age groups (<1, 1–5, 6–11, 12–17 and ≥ 18 years), and 6 disease categories (upper airway disorders; neuromuscular disease, NMD; disorder of the central nervous system; cardiorespiratory disorder; congenital bone disease, CBD; and other).

Results

Age correlated positively with constant CPAP pressure (r = 0.364, p < 0.0001), and negatively with CPAP adherence (r = −0.173, p < 0.0001). Mean age at CPAP initiation, CPAP pressures and adherence did not differ between disorders. Regarding NIV, mean inspiratory positive airway pressure (IPAP) increased with age (r = 0.152, p = 0.0001), whereas respiratory rate (RR; r = −0.593, p < 0.0001) and adherence to NIV decreased with age (r = −0.154, p = 0.0002). NIV settings were quite similar between disease categories, with the CBD group having the highest IPAP, and NMD group having the lowest expiratory positive airway pressure and RR. Adherence tended to be higher with NIV than CPAP.

Conclusions

CPAP pressure and IPAP increase with age, while settings seem quite similar between diseases. Even if our study provides some information about CPAP/NIV settings, they should always be individually adapted according to the severity of the disease.