Description:
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec>
<jats:title>Background</jats:title>
<jats:p>High-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) oxygen is a non-invasive ventilation system that was introduced as an alternative to CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure), with a marked increase in its use in pediatric care settings. This study aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of early use of HFNC compared to oxygen by nasal cannula in an infant with bronchiolitis in the emergency setting.</jats:p>
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<jats:title>Methods</jats:title>
<jats:p>A decision tree model was used to estimate the cost-effectiveness of HFNC compared with oxygen by nasal cannula (control strategy) in an infant with bronchiolitis in the emergency setting. Cost data were obtained from a retrospective study on bronchiolitis from tertiary centers in Rionegro, Colombia, while utilities were collected from the literature.</jats:p>
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<jats:title>Results</jats:title>
<jats:p>The QALYs per patient calculated in the base-case model were 0.9141 (95% CI 0.913–0.915) in the HFNC and 0.9105 (95% CI 0.910–0.911) in control group. The cost per patient was US$368 (95% CI US$ 323–411) in HFNC and US$441 (95% CI US$ 384–498) per patient in the control group.</jats:p>
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<jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title>
<jats:p>HFNC was cost-effective HFNC compared to oxygen by nasal cannula in an infant with bronchiolitis in the emergency setting. The use of this technology in emergency settings will allow a more efficient use of resources, especially in low-resource countries with high prevalence of bronchiolitis .</jats:p>
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