Abstract: Objective To explore the effect of high- flow nasal cannula (HFNC) oxygen therapy in elderly patients during anesthesia recovery. Method A total of 178 elderly patients undergoing elective non-cardiac surgeries were randomly assigned into HFNC oxygen therapy group (group H) or nasal cannula oxygen therapy group (group N), with 89 patients in each group. All the patients were admitted in postanesthesia care unit (PACU) after the surgery for recovery following the routine procedure. After trachea extubation, the patients in group H received HFNC oxygen therapy and those in group N had nasal cannula oxygen therapy. In both groups, arterial blood gas analysis was performed at 10 min after oxygen inhalation and the respiratory parameters were recorded. During oxygen inhalation, the occurrence and frequency of hypoxia (oxygen saturation <90% ), trachea reintubation and adverse events (unplanned admission to ICU, vomiting, aspiration, etc.) were recorded. Results All the patients recovered safely from anesthesia in the PACU and subsequently received routine care, and only 1 patient in group N required trachea reintubation. Compared with those in group N, that patients in group H had a significantly lower incidence of hypoxia (3.4% vs 11.2%, P=0.044), a higher arterial partial pressure of oxygen (161.96±51.21 vs 114.35±43.60 mmHg, P<0.001), and a higher oxygenation index (398.76±231.86 vs 324.10±194.16, P=0.021). The mean respiratory rate, arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide and blood oxygen saturation were all comparable between the two groups. Conclusion HFNC oxygen therapy during anesthesia recovery is safe and effective in elderly patients and can reduce the occurrence of hypoxia after tracheal extubation and improve arterial partial pressure of oxygen and oxygenation.

Key words: high-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy; anesthesia recovery; elderly patients