Treatment of respiratory insufficiency after cardiac surgery with noninvasive positive pressure ventilation

Objective To study the effect and safety of noninvasive positive pressure ventilation（NPPV） on respiratory insufficiency after cardiac surgery. Methods Four hundred and twenty-nine patients who underwent cardiac surgery in December 2005-December 2009 were divided into treatment group（n=28） and control group（n=401）.Their life symptoms and artery blood gas were recorded 24,16,and 8h before,and 8,16,24 and 48h after NPPV.ICU stay time,complications and hospital stay time of the two groups were compared after operation. Results The efficiency of NPPV on respiratory insufficiency was higher in smokers of treatment group than in those of control group（75.0% vs 47.5%,P＜0.05）.The average NPPV time was 40.8±15.4h.The respiratory rate,arterial blood pH value,partial pressure of oxygen,heart rate and blood oxygen saturation were significantly improved after NPPV（P＜0.05） with an effective rate of 92.8%.The efficiency of NPPV on respiratory insufficiency caused by pulmonary infection was relatively poor. Conclusion NPPV can improve the lung function of patients with respiratory insufficiency after cardiac surgery,thus avoiding a second intubation.