Background
PRESSURE ULCERS, PRESSURE ULCERS, ADVERSE EFFECT, ACUTE RESPIRATORY FAILURE
In the last decades, noninvasive ventilation (NIV) has been increasingly used to support patients with hypercapnic and hypoxemic acute respiratory failure. Pressure ulcers are a frequently observed NIV-related adverse effect, directly related to interface type and exposure time. Switching to a different interface has been proposed as a solution to improve patient comfort. However, large studies investigating the benefit of this strategy are not available. Thus, the aim of the ROTAtional-USE of interface STUDY (ROTA-USE STUDY) is to investigate whether a protocolized rotational use of interfaces during NIV is effective in reducing the incidence of pressure ulcers.