Introduction
Chronic lung disease is becoming more prevalent with non-invasive ventilation(NIV) & O2 being used in some of these infants, preventing the need for tracheostomy ventilation & associated impact on voice, development & infection. Following a clinical incident, where a 14% discrepancy in O2 delivered to a child on NIV at home via a concentrator compared to that delivered in the hospital by the pressurised O2 at the wall, we sought to explore practices across the UK.
Methods
We performed a National survey to assess experiences of O2 discrepancies when using NIV in infants, & of prescribing home O2.
Results
20 health care professionals(HCPs) completed the survey. 30% noticed a discrepancy between O2 delivered in hospital through NIV compared with at home. 50% HCPs perform home testing of equipment before discharge. 25% of HCPs said parents noticed their baby de-saturated when using the ventilator shortly after discharge & had to increase O2.
The maximum amount of home O2 prescribed via NIV varies dramatically across the UK(Fig 1).
Discussion
This National survey, revealed a third of children discharged on NIV had discrepancies in their prescribed O2 & that delivered at home on discharge. There seems little knowledge amongst HCPs about this. Improved education & discharge checks should be performed to prevent this. There is no established maximum O2 given via home ventilators, work should be done to establish national guidelines.