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Permalink Reply by Mike on July 28, 2009 at 12:54am

the nasal cannula study -- i had heard about this. for some reason, i think it didn't go anywhere. not sure why that's my impression.

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Permalink Reply by BeeAsleep on July 28, 2009 at 8:17am

I can't visualize what a nasal cannula is exactly. ?

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Permalink Reply by Steven Y. Park, MD on July 28, 2009 at 10:50am

I saw the abstract of this study and met with the authors at the Denver SLEEP meeting a few years back. It was an interesting concept, but just like many minimally invasive options, you'll get minimally positive results. The nasal cannula is similar to what they use in hospitals to give you oxygen. It doesn't plug up your nose. By blowing in a slightly higher pressure flow of air, in theory it's just enough to keep the passageways open. For some people with mild sleep apnea, it should work to some degree, but won't work as well in people with severe sleep apnea who need much higher pressures. The Provent device works in a similar way, using a different device.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Nadolny, BS, CRT on July 28, 2009 at 2:08pm

In the NICU they often use nasal cannulas with Air instead of Oxygen to keep airways open in neonates.(premature infants)

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Permalink Reply by BeeAsleep on July 28, 2009 at 6:07pm

Great, thanks for all the info!

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Permalink Reply by Mike on July 31, 2009 at 12:05pm

i've been reading about babies lately (expecting our first soon), and apparently infants born prematurely have undeveloped lungs that "forget" to breathe. wonder whether what they get is CPAP with nasal cannula for that. or wouldn't they need something more sophisticated, like an ASV device that "breathes for you"? anyway, just thinking aloud. no worries if you guys don't know the answer.

Jim Nadolny, BS, CRT said:

In the NICU they often use nasal cannulas with Air instead of Oxygen to keep airways open in neonates.(premature infants)

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