查看文章

Morbid obesity is associated with adverse airway events including desaturation during deep sedation. Prior works have suggested that proprietary high-flow nasal cannula devices generate positive pressure to all airway structures and may be superior to standard (low-flow) nasal cannula for prevention of desaturation. We hypothesized that, at a similar fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO₂), use of a High-Flow Nasal Cannula (HFNC) at maximum flow rate would result in a lower incidence of intra-procedural desaturation episodes in morbidly obese patients compared to standard nasal cannula (SNC) during deep sedation with propofol.

This is a pragmatic, prospective, randomized clinical trial at one hospital (NCT03148262, UTSW#112016-058). Morbidly obese patients were randomized to HFNC during propofol sedation for colonoscopy. HFNC was performed using maximum flow rates of 60 liters …