Use of optiflow THRIVE high-flow nasal oxygen system versus a non-rebreather oxygen delivery device in patients with increased risk of airway obstruction in interventional radiology procedures: a randomized pilot study

Description

Gang Zheng and co-authors tested high flow nasal oxygen against a standard mask for keeping sedated patients' blood oxygen up during interventional radiology procedures. These suites limit access to the airway, so patients prone to airway obstruction are risky to sedate deeply. In their 2026 randomized pilot, 101 such patients received deep propofol sedation with either high flow oxygen at seventy liters per minute or a non-rebreather mask. The team measured total time spent desaturated, episode counts, sedation depth, and recovery stay.

Average desaturation time was 0.34 minutes with high flow oxygen versus 0.97 minutes with the mask, though the difference was not significant in this pilot sample. Desaturation hit 14 percent of the high flow group against 26 percent of the mask group. One measure did separate clearly: episodes of overly light sedation were more frequent with the mask, a median of four versus two. Recovery stay was shorter with high flow oxygen.

Catalog record

Source: https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13459460