High Flow Nasal Cannula vs NPPV in Moderate Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Exacerbation

For moderate AECOPD(pH\<7.35), several guidelines have strongly recommended NPPV as standard therapy, which can reduce the rate of intubation and mortality. A few previous studies have shown that HFNC can efficiently improve alveoli ventilation and breathing pattern in some severe AECOPD patients. Therefore, we hypothesize that HFNC is not inferior to NPPV for preventing endotracheal intubation in moderate AECOPD patients. To assess this hypothesis, we performed a multicenter, randomized, noninferiority trial of HFNV vs NPPV in moderate AECOPD patients.