Effectiveness of the HighFO novel oxygen nebulizer for respiratory failure patients with severe hypoxia

Optimal oxygen delivery is an essential component of therapy for patients with respiratory failure. Reservoir masks or air entrainment nebulizers have often been used for patients who require highly concentrated oxygen, but these may not actually deliver a sufficient fraction of inspired oxygen if there is a marked increase in the patient's ventilatory demands, or if oxygen flow becomes limited due to high resistance in the nebulizer nozzles. The HighFO nebulizer is a novel air entrainment nebulizer equipped with unique structures which reduce nozzle resistance, and as a result, it is possible to supply a sufficient flow of highly concentrated-oxygen. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and usefulness of the HighFO nebulizer in 10 respiratory failure patients with severe hypoxemia who used a reservoir mask and required more than 10 L/min of oxygen supply. In each case, the reservoir mask was replaced with the HighFO nebulizer, and changes in percutaneous oxygen saturation (SpO2) were monitored using pulse oximetry. Oxygenation improved promptly after the reservoir mask was substituted for the HighFO nebulizer (SpO2 : 83.7% +/- 8.5%-94.2% +/- 3.2%, p = 0.007). This finding suggests that the HighFO nebulizer was reasonably effective in delivering highly concentrated oxygen, sufficient for patient demands. The HighFO nebulizer may be the beginning of a new strategy for oxygen therapy.