Bi-level Positive Airway Pressure Versus Nasal CPAP for the Prevention of Extubation Failure in Infants After Cardiac Surgery

Extubation early in the postoperative period is beneficial to the recovery and rehabilitation of patients. This study compared the postoperative extubation failure rates among infants who received postextubation respiratory support by either bi-level positive airway pressure (BPAP) or nasal CPAP following cardiac surgery.This was a single-center randomized controlled trial registered at the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (number ChiCTR2000041453) and was conducted between January 2020 and March 2021. Ventilated infants who underwent cardiac surgery were randomized to either a BPAP or a nasal CPAP group for ventilatory support following extubation. The primary outcome measure was the extubation failure rate within 48 h.The analyses included 186 subjects. Treatment failure necessitating re-intubation was noted in 14 of the 93 infants (15%) in the BPAP group and in 11 of the 93 infants (12%) in the nasal CPAP group (P = .52). Moreover, there were no statistically significant differences between the 2 groups regarding the duration of noninvasive ventilation (P = .54), total enteral feeding time (P = .59), or complications (P = .85). We found that both the BPAP group and the nasal CPAP group showed significantly improved oxygenation and relief of respiratory distress after treatment. However, the PaCO2 level within 24 h was significantly lower in the BPAP group (P = .001) than in the CPAP group. Additionally, the PaO2 /FIO2 in the BPAP group was significantly higher than in the nasal CPAP group at 6 h, 12 h, and 24 h after treatment (P < .001).The introduction of BPAP for postextubation respiratory support was not inferior to nasal CPAP in infants after cardiac surgery. Moreover, BPAP was shown to be superior to nasal CPAP in improving oxygenation and carbon dioxide clearance.