Ground Breaking Research Shows Efficacy of Optiflow™ Nasal High Flow Therapy



New research has been published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine that shows significant benefits of Optiflow™ nasal high flow therapy for pediatric patients requiring respiratory support.

The Pediatric Acute Respiratory Intervention Study (PARIS) was conducted by the research team at Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital in Brisbane, Australia, and led by Ms Donna Franklin and Dr Andreas Schibler. The study is the largest nasal high flow (NHF) randomised controlled trial to date, aiming to investigate if the early use of NHF in less intensive settings could prevent the need for treatment escalation.  

Results show that the use of NHF to treat bronchiolitis, the leading cause of pediatric hospital admissions to Emergency Departments (EDs) worldwide, is an effective strategy to reduce the level of care required in infants with bronchiolitis. 12% of infants in the NHF group required escalation of care, compared to 23% in the standard oxygen therapy group.

The study consisted of 1,472 infants aged younger than 12 months, who were enrolled from 17 EDs and associated pediatric wards across Australia and New Zealand. NHF was delivered at a flow rate of 2L/kg/min and standard oxygen therapy was delivered at a maximum flow of 2L/min. 

Vice President – Products & Technology at Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, Andrew Somervell said, “This study provides further, compelling evidence of the efficacy of our Optiflow nasal high flow therapy. It is encouraging to see such a meaningful improvement to patient care. Having such reputable and robust clinical evidence of the effectiveness of our therapy is very significant and will help to drive change in clinical practice.”

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare provided product support for PARIS. The study can be viewed here.