Rescue Therapy by Switching to Total Face Mask After Failure of Face Mask-Delivered Noninvasive Ventilation in Do-Not-Intubate Patients in Acute Respiratory Failure*

Abstract

In patients in hypercapnic acute respiratory failure, for whom escalation to intubation is deemed inappropriate, switching to total face mask can be proposed as a last resort therapy when face mask-delivered noninvasive mechanical ventilation has already failed to reverse acute respiratory failure. This strategy is particularly adapted to provide prolonged periods of continuous noninvasive mechanical ventilation while preventing facial pressure sores.