Noninvasive ventilation with a bilevel positive airway pressure machine and a tight-fitting respiratory mask for preoxygenation significantly reduced the risk for hypoxemia during tracheal intubation in critically ill adults compared with using an oxygen mask, a new study found.
The PREOXI (Pragmatic Trial Examining Oxygenation Prior to Intubation) study aimed to determine whether using noninvasive ventilation before intubation would prevent hypoxemia—defined as oxygen saturation less than