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PurposeThe life-saving role of oxygen therapy in African children with severe pneumonia is not yet established.MethodsThe open-label fractional-factorial COAST trial randomised eligible Ugandan and Kenyan children aged > 28 days with severe pneumonia and severe hypoxaemia stratum (SpO2 2 80-91%) to HFNT or LFO (liberal strategies) or permissive hypoxaemia (ratio 1:1:2). Children with cyanotic heart disease, chronic lung disease or > 3 h receipt of oxygen were excluded. The primary endpoint was 48 h mortality; secondary endpoints included mortality or neurocognitive sequelae at 28 days.ResultsThe trial was stopped early after enrolling 1852/4200 children, including 388 in the severe hypoxaemia stratum (median 7 months; median SpO2 75%) randomised to HFNT (n = 194) or LFO (n = 194) and 1454 in the hypoxaemia stratum (median 9 months; median SpO2 88%) randomised to HFNT (n = 363) vs LFO (n = 364) vs permissive hypoxaemia (n = 727). Per-protocol 15% of patients in the permissive hypoxaemia group received oxygen (when SpO2 ConclusionsRespiratory support with HFNT showing potential benefit should prompt further trials.

Original publication

DOI

10.1007/s00134-021-06385-3

Type

Journal

Intensive care medicine

Publication Date

05/2021

Volume

47

Pages

566 - 576

Addresses

Department of Infectious Disease and and Institute of Global Health and Innovation, Division of Medicine, Imperial College, London, UK. k.maitland@imperial.ac.uk.

Keywords

COAST trial group, Humans, Pneumonia, Oxygen, Oxygen Inhalation Therapy, Child, Kenya, Hypoxia