Steve Goodacre, John W Stevens, Abdullah Pandor, Edith Poku, Shijie Ren, Anna Cantrell, Vincent Bounes, Arantxa Mas, Didier Payen, David Petrie, Markus Soeren Roessler, Gunther Weitz, Laurent Ducros, Patrick Plaisance
OBJECTIVES: This meta-analysis aimed to determine the effectiveness of prehospital continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) or bilevel inspiratory positive airway pressure (BiPAP) in acute respiratory failure. METHODS: Fourteen electronic databases and research registers were searched from inception to August 2013. Randomized or quasi-randomized controlled trials that reported mortality or intubation rate for prehospital CPAP or BiPAP were selected and compared to a relevant comparator in patients with acute respiratory failure...
September 2014: Academic Emergency Medicine