Aggressive treatment with noninvasive ventilation for mild acute hypoxemic respiratory failure after cardiovascular surgery: Retrospective observational study

Background Acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (AHRF) is one of the most serious complications after cardiovascular surgery. It remains unclear whether noninvasive ventilation (NIV) has potential as an effective therapy for AHRF after cardiovascular surgery, although many reports have described the use of NIV for AHRF after extubation. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of NIV in the early stage of mild AHRF after cardiovascular surgery.