Physiologic Basis for Nasal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, Heated and Humidified High-Flow Nasal Cannula, and Nasal Ventilation

Abstract

Noninvasive support modalities have become ever more present in the care of newborns with a wide variety of disease processes. As clinicians have continued to avoid intubation and mechanical ventilation in preterm and term infants, the technologies available to support these groups have grown. Despite this rapid growth they can be broken down into 3 large categories of support, all attempting to deliver both flow and pressure to the nasopharynx supporting both phases of spontaneous breathing. The goal of all of the therapies is to stabilize a heterogeneous group of disorders with some common pathologies and avoid invasive support modalities.

Keywords: High-flow nasal cannula; Nasal CPAP; Nasal ventilation.