Preoxygenation With Nasal Cannula and Noninvasive Positive Pressure Ventilation

Noninvasive positive pressure ventilation with the addition of a nasal cannula is a useful technique to pre-oxygenate and provide apneic oxygenation in hypoxic patients undergoing emergency airway management. This study aims to evaluate preoxygenation by quantifying end-tidal oxygen (etO2) concentration resulting from nasal cannula placement underneath a noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) mask. This is a prospective randomized cross over study of healthy volunteers undergoing continuous positive airway pressure ventilation via a noninvasive ventilation (NIV) mask with and without the addition of nasal cannulas. End-tidal oxygen concentration will be measured by an oxygen sensor following three minutes of NIPPV with and without the addition of a nasal cannula, with each subject serving as his or her own control.