Discussion
hypoxemic respiratory failure, respiratory failure, NIV failure
RESPIRATORY FAILURE, HYPOXEMIC RESPIRATORY FAILURE
Our study failed to demonstrate the interest of a prompt association of HFNC-OOur results are thus in disagreement with a recent meta-analysis supporting the use of non-invasive oxygenation strategies (non-invasive ventilatory support and high-flow nasal oxygen) compared with standard oxygen therapy for preventing endotracheal intubation in patients with mild-to-moderate hypoxemic respiratory failure [However, a lack of power may—Several limitations of our study deserve consideration. As mentioned above, there was an unexpected incidence of delayed respiratory failure lower than the incidence used for the power calculation. We thus decided to prematurely stop the trial as the likelihood of finding a treatment effect was unrealistic even if the study was to continue to its full planned sample size, also considering a lower inclusion rate than expected in the context of a worldwide COVID-19 Pandemic. Moreover, the small sample size precluded further analysis of predictors and outcome of NIV failure patients (including ROX or HACOR scale). Finally, the study design and the small subgroup of patients with PaO