High-Flow Oxygen Therapy for Bronchiolitis: Steps to Wiser Use in Pediatrics

Bronchiolitis is the leading cause of hospitalization in children less than 1 year old, so using treatments for the right length of time is key to getting patients discharged speedily and controlling costs. UCSF specialists describe the informative findings from their quality improvement project looking at high-flow oxygen by nasal cannula – a technique whose use has increased dramatically in the last 10 years despite a lack of evidence for better outcomes. They offer a protocol for successful weaning.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the pathophysiology and clinical characteristics of children with bronchiolitis
• List evidence-based therapies used in mangement of children admitted with bronchiolitis and acute respiratory failure
• Describe how a quality improvement methadology can be used to address overuse of heated high flow naval cannula therapy for bronchiolitis and reduce length of stay and costs