High flow nasal cannula to prevent intubation in obese patient with COVID-19 induced ARDS: a case report

Obese patients have been identified to have a poor prognosis and a higher risk of death from coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). We present reports of two obese patients infected with COVID-19 with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) who showed improvement with high flow nasal cannula (HFNC). HFNC is a noninvasive oxygen delivery device which is capable of delivering a high concentration of oxygen that can reduce the requirement for tracheal intubation. HFNC is convenient to use, can reduce dyspnea without effecting the length of stay in ICU in these cases; and has a high merit to be used in selected patients requiring oxygen before attempting intubation and mechanical ventilation. Key words: ARDS; COVID-19; High flow nasal cannula; HFNC; Obese Citation: Mariati NMAS, Sugiarto A, Endriani E, Lestari R, Anindita K. High flow nasal cannula to prevent intubation in obese patient with COVID-19 induced ARDS: a case report. Anaesth pain intensive care 2021;25(2):212-216. DOI: 10.35975/apic.v25i2.1473 Received: 18 November 2020, Reviewed: 24 November 2020, Accepted: 7 December 2020