REVIEW  NON-INVASIVE RESPIRATORY SUPPORT IN COVID-19 PNEUMONIA Open access

Italian Journal of Emergency Medicine 2021 December;10(3):144-9

DOI: 10.23736/S2532-1285.21.00121-X

Copyright © 2021 THE AUTHORS

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language: English

COVID-19: non-invasive oxygenation and ventilation devices in pre-hospital settings

Abdo KHOURY ^{1, 2} ✉, Jean-Baptiste PRETALLI ^{1, 2}, Roberta PETRINO ³, Erwan L’HER ⁴, Nicolas PESCHANSKI ⁵, Roberto COSENTINI ⁶ EUSEM NIV Group 

¹ Department of Emergency Medicine and Critical Care, Besançon University Hospital, Besançon, France; ² Clinical Investigation Center, INSERM CIC-1431, Besançon University Hospital, Besançon, France; ³ Emergency Department, S. Andrea Hospital, Vercelli, Italy; ⁴ Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital of Brest, La Cavale Blanche, Brest, France; ⁵ Emergency Department, University Hospital of Rennes, Rennes, France; ⁶ Emergency Department, ASST Papa Giovanni XXIII, Bergamo, Italy

The COVID-19 pandemic is stressing Emergency and Critical Care services worldwide. The SARS-CoV-2 infection appears to cause an unusual form of acute respiratory failure, with profound hypoxemia but normal pulmonary compliance (silent hypoxemia) at least in the initial phase. Subsequently, it may evolve toward an acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Evidence supporting the use of non-invasive oxygenation and ventilation in patients with COVID-19 related pneumonia is being generated worldwide. There is a major concern regarding the risk of viral transmission by aerosolization of droplets containing viral particles. In this review, we discuss the management of COVID-19 patients with non-invasive oxygenation and ventilation devices in pre-hospital settings.

KEY WORDS: Continuous positive airway pressure; Noninvasive ventilation; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19