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Management of Breathlessness with High-flow Nasal Therapy or a Fan

T

Tampere University Hospital

Status

Completed

Conditions

Cancer
Breathlessness

Treatments

Device: High-flow nasal therapy
Device: Airflow directed to face by a fan

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

Details and patient eligibility

About

Airflow directed to the face by a fan is shown to relief breathlessness in palliative care and some studies have suggested High-Flow nasal airflow therapy beneficial as well. However, these two treatments have not been compared.

40 patients with advanced cancer and breathlessness are recruited from Tampere University Hospital or Pirkanmaa Hospice. All patients are treated with two therapies: 1. High-Flow nasal airflow therapy with a nasal cannula and 2. airflow directed to the face by a fan. Both treatment periods last 30 minutes or as long as the patient wish to use the therapy. The effects of the therapies on breathlessness are compared by asking the subjective relief of breathlessness after each therapies. The study do not limit any other therapies used in the normal clinical care for the patients. Thus, all the other therapies the physicians taking care of the patient orders are permitted. Hopefully, the patients achieve relief for their breathlessness through the study treatments given in addition to their normal treatment. There are no significant risks related to the therapies, but they may cause some inconveniences such as mouth dryness. These possible side-effects of the therapies are asked as well.

Full description

Airflow directed to the face by a fan is shown to relief breathlessness in palliative care and some studies have suggested High-Flow nasal airflow therapy beneficial as well. However, these two treatments have not been compared and High-Flow nasal airflow therapy has not been tested in the context of hospice.

40 patients over 18 years with advanced cancer and breathlessness are recruited from Tampere University Hospital or Pirkanmaa Hospice. All patients are treated with two therapies: 1. High-Flow nasal airflow therapy with a nasal cannula and 2. airflow directed to the face by a fan (crossover trial). Both treatment periods last 30 minutes or as long as the patient wish to use the therapy. The effects of the therapies on breathlessness are compared by asking the subjective relief of breathlessness after each therapies with numeric rating scale (NRS) from 0 (no breathlessness) to 10 (the worst possible breathlessness). Influence of the treatments on anxiety, pain and mouth dryness are measured as well with numeric rating scale (NRS) from 0 to 10. The study do not limit any other therapies used in the normal clinical care for the patients. Thus, all the other therapies the physicians taking care of the patient orders are permitted. Hopefully, the patients achieve relief for their breathlessness through the study treatments given in addition to their normal treatment. There are no significant risks related to the therapies, but they may cause some inconveniences such as mouth dryness. These possible side-effects of the therapies are asked as well.

Enrollment

36 patients

Sex

All

Ages

18+ years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

  • Advanced cancer
  • At least 18 years of age
  • Breathlessness (At least 3 on a NRS-scale from 0 to 10)
  • Capable to understand the study and to give informed consent
  • Do not benefit from ICU treatment or resuscitation defined by the physician taking care of the patient

Exclusion criteria

  • Insufficient co-operation for the study treatment or to give informed consent
  • Oxygen saturation under 88 % on room air
  • Need for other device to treat the breathlessness
  • The reason of breathlessness can be immediately treated

Trial design

Primary purpose

Treatment

Allocation

Randomized

Interventional model

Crossover Assignment

Masking

None (Open label)

36 participants in 2 patient groups

Fan first
Active Comparator group
Description:
Patients use the fan first and high-flow nasal therapy thereafter
Treatment:
Device: Airflow directed to face by a fan
Device: High-flow nasal therapy
High-flow nasal therapy first
Active Comparator group
Description:
Patients use high-flow nasal therapy first and the fan thereafter
Treatment:
Device: Airflow directed to face by a fan
Device: High-flow nasal therapy

Trial contacts and locations

2

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Central trial contact

Reetta Piili, PhD; Juho Lehto, Professor

Data sourced from clinicaltrials.gov

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