title: Noninvasive ventilation: a survey of practice patterns of its use in India.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To understand the practice patterns of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) use by Indian physicians.
  
  
  METHODS
  Around three thousand physicians from all over India were mailed a questionnaire that could capture the practice patterns of NIV use.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Completed responses were received from 648 physicians (21.6%). Majority (n = 469, 72.4%, age 40 +/- 9 years, M:F 409:60) use NIV in their clinical practice. NIV was most exclusively being used in the ICU setting (68.4%) and the commonest indication for its use was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (71.4%). A significant number did not report use of a conventional ventilator for NIV support (62%). Oronasal mask was the overwhelming favorite among the sampled physicians (68.2%). In most of the cases, the treating physician initiated NIV (60.8%) and a baseline blood gas analysis was performed in only 71.1% of the cases (315/443). Nasal bridge pressure sores was the commonest complication (64.2%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  NIV is being widely used in clinical practice in India for various indications. COPD is the most common indication for its deployment. There seems to be a marked variability in the patterns relating to actual deployment of NIV, including the site of initiation, protocols for initiation followed, and monitoring of patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi, India. drchawla@vsnl.net
authors.forename: Rajesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chawla
authors.forename: U S
authors.initials: US
authors.lastname: Sidhu
authors.forename: Vijai
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Shruti
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nagarkar
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Brochard