Non-invasive ventilation helpful in lung cancer
NIV may ease breathing difficulty
A paper presented at the American Thoracic Society's 2008 International Conference in Toronto in May suggests that patients with end-stage lung cancer may benefit from noninvasive ventilation (NIV).
The studysuggests that NIV may be more effective at reducing breathing difficulty than standard oxygen therapy, and it has the advantage of reducing such patients' reliance on morphine, enabling them to have a higher level of lucidity in their final days.
"With oxygen therapy, you might improve oxygenation of the whole body with a small cannula inserted into the nose," said Stefano Nava, MD, chief of the respiratory critical care unit at Istituto Scientifico di Pavia in Italy, who led the research. "NIV implies the application of a face mask connected to [a] ventilator. The main advantage over oxygen is that NIV not only improves oxygenation, but also the work of breathing."
The ATS said that this is the first research to compare the two therapies, and it is the first randomized controlled study to investigate the relief of respiratory distress in end-stage cancer patients.
Nava and his colleagues enrolled 92 patients who met the criteria and agreed to be randomized to receive either oxygen therapy or NIV. Three-month mortality for the groups was 89% and 87% respectively, and was not significantly different between the two groups, according to the ATS. Roughly a third of each patient group was discharged alive after an average of two weeks.
A paper presented at the American Thoracic Society's 2008 International Conference in Toronto in May suggests that patients with end-stage lung cancer may benefit from noninvasive ventilation (NIV).You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
- Award-winning Medical Content
- Latest Advances & Development in Medicine
- Unbiased Content