Management of Moderately Hypoxemic Thoracic Trauma

In France, the average incidence of thoracic trauma is 10,000 to 15,000 each year. These patients are at risk of early and late post traumatic respiratory complications as follows: pneumonia, Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), hypoxemia. Main issues of thoracic trauma management were recently published by French anesthesiologist and intensivist experts. Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) was recommended in case of severe hypoxemia (PaO2/FiO2 < 200). In comparison to conventional oxygenation or mechanical ventilation, NIV reduced length of stay, incidence of complications and mortality in case of severe hypoxemia. For mild or moderate hypoxemic patients, no devices were tested to prevent respiratory complications. At the moment, low-flow oxygenation is administered to these patients in the absence of severe hypoxemia. Recently, many studies have found promising results with high-flow oxygenation delivered by nasal cannula. This device has many physiological advantages: wash out the naso-pharyngeal dead space, increase end expiratory lung volume, deliver a moderate or low level of Positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP), improve work of breathing and confort. Several randomized controlled trials tested this device in many clinical settings, but there are no studies on its use after thoracic trauma. A comparative trial is needed to evaluate early prophylactic administration of high-flow oxygenation after thoracic trauma.