Effects of high-flow oxygen therapy on patients with hypoxemia after extubation and predictors of reintubation: a retrospective study based on the MIMIC-IV database

Abstract Background To investigate the indications for high-flow nasal cannula oxygen (HFNC) therapy in patients with hypoxemia during ventilator weaning and to explore the predictors of reintubation when treatment fails. Methods Adult patients with hypoxemia weaning from mechanical ventilation were identified from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care IV (MIMIC-IV) database. The patients were assigned to the treatment group or control group according to whether they were receiving HFNC or non-invasive ventilation (NIV) after extubation. The 28-day mortality and 28-day reintubation rates were compared between the two groups after Propensity score matching (PSM). The predictor for reintubation was formulated according to the risk factors with the XGBoost algorithm. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was calculated for reintubation prediction according to values at 4 h after extubation, which was compared with the ratio of SpO 2 /FiO 2 to respiratory rate (ROX index). Results A total of 524,520 medical records were screened, and 801 patients with moderate or severe hypoxemia when undergoing mechanical ventilation weaning were included (100 0.05). Then HR/SpO 2 was formulated as a predictor for 48-h reintubation according to the important features predicting weaning failure. According to values at 4 h after extubation, the AUC of HR/SpO 2 was 0.657, which was larger than that of ROX index (0.583). When the HR/SpO 2 reached 1.2 at 4 h after extubation, the specificity for 48-h reintubation prediction was 93%. Conclusions The treatment effect of HFNC therapy is not inferior to that of NIV, even on patients with oxygenation index from 160 to 180 mmHg when weaning from ventilator. HR/SpO 2 is more early and accurate in predicting HFNC failure than ROX index.