Clinical Outcomes of Bronchiolitis After Implementation of a General Ward High Flow Nasal Cannula Guideline.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to assess the association of the introduction of a ward's high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) guideline with clinical outcomes of infants with bronchiolitis.

METHODS: We conducted a retrospective, pre-post intervention study with an interrupted time series analysis of infants admitted with bronchiolitis between 2010 and 2014 at an urban, tertiary care children's hospital. Patients admitted in the 24 months before and after initiation of a guideline for HFNC use on the general wards were compared. The primary outcome was length of hospital stay. Secondary outcomes were PICU transfer rate and length of stay, intubation rate, and 30-day readmission, adjusted for season.

RESULTS: A total of 1937 patients met inclusion criteria; 936 were admitted before and 1001 admitted after the introduction of HFNC use on the general wards. Comparing the 2 groups, the hospital-wide rate of HFNC use in bronchiolitis treatment increased after HFNC became available on the wards (23.9% vs 35.2%; P < .001). The ward's HFNC guideline was not associated with a change in preintervention trajectory of total hospital length of stay ( P = .48), PICU length of stay ( P = .06), or rate of PICU transfer ( P = .97). There was also no difference in intubation rate or 30-day readmission between the 2 groups.

CONCLUSIONS: Initiating a guideline for HFNC use on the general pediatric wards was associated with an increase in the use of the intervention with no significant change in total hospital length of stay, PICU length of stay and transfer rate, intubation rate, or 30-day readmission for patients with bronchiolitis.