TY - JOUR
T1 - Nasal High Flow Therapy For Symptom Management in People Receiving Palliative Care
AU - Huang, Joanna Yilin
AU - Steele, Patrick
AU - Dabscheck, Eli
AU - Smallwood, Natasha
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine
PY - 2022/2
Y1 - 2022/2
N2 - For patients with chronic non-malignant lung disease, severe chronic breathlessness can significantly impact quality of life, causing significant disability, distress, social isolation, and recurrent hospital admissions. Caregivers for people with challenging symptoms, such as severe breathlessness, are also profoundly impacted. Despite increasing research focused on breathlessness over recent years, this symptom remains extremely difficult to manage, with no effective treatment that completely relieves breathlessness. A new potential treatment for relieving breathlessness in patients at home is nasal high flow (NHF) therapy. NHF therapy is a respiratory support system that delivers heated, humidified air (together with oxygen if required) with flows of up to 60 L/min. This case describes a patient with very severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who received domiciliary NHF therapy (approximately 8 hours/day, flow rate of 20 L/min) over twelve months with good effect for the relief of severe chronic breathlessness. We discuss the management principles for severe chronic breathlessness, the physiological effects of NHF therapy and the evidence for long-term use in the community setting. With the support of respiratory and palliative care clinicians together, domiciliary NHF therapy has great potential for improving current symptom management approaches in people with life-limiting illnesses.
AB - For patients with chronic non-malignant lung disease, severe chronic breathlessness can significantly impact quality of life, causing significant disability, distress, social isolation, and recurrent hospital admissions. Caregivers for people with challenging symptoms, such as severe breathlessness, are also profoundly impacted. Despite increasing research focused on breathlessness over recent years, this symptom remains extremely difficult to manage, with no effective treatment that completely relieves breathlessness. A new potential treatment for relieving breathlessness in patients at home is nasal high flow (NHF) therapy. NHF therapy is a respiratory support system that delivers heated, humidified air (together with oxygen if required) with flows of up to 60 L/min. This case describes a patient with very severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who received domiciliary NHF therapy (approximately 8 hours/day, flow rate of 20 L/min) over twelve months with good effect for the relief of severe chronic breathlessness. We discuss the management principles for severe chronic breathlessness, the physiological effects of NHF therapy and the evidence for long-term use in the community setting. With the support of respiratory and palliative care clinicians together, domiciliary NHF therapy has great potential for improving current symptom management approaches in people with life-limiting illnesses.
KW - chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
KW - chronic respiratory disease
KW - Dyspnea, palliative care, nasal high flow therapy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85119197790&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2021.09.016
DO - 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2021.09.016
M3 - Article
C2 - 34600084
AN - SCOPUS:85119197790
SN - 0885-3924
VL - 63
SP - e237-e245
JO - Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
JF - Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
IS - 2
ER -