Cochrane · systematic review · CD004711

Heat and moisture exchangers versus heated humidifiers for mechanically ventilated adults and children

Gillies, D, Todd, DA, Foster, JP, et al. · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · 2017 · Cochrane Library

Emergency and Critical Care2 versionsAMSTAR 2: not assessed

SoF tableOnly the outcomes this review put in its Summary of Findings table are listed (the Cochrane Handbook caps them at about seven per comparison). Its other analyses are not shown here.

Questions

current version

GRADE rated

No studies

Included studies

No studies 0 · 0%Ungraded 0 · 0%Very low 0 · 0%Low 3 · 100%Moderate 0 · 0%High 0 · 0%

Ungraded means an effect was reported without a GRADE rating; it is not a gap. No studies means the review found nothing to answer the question. The six categories are a display order, not a score.

Questions and results

Current version only

Heat and moisture exchangers (HME) compared to heated humidifiers (HH) for ventilated adults and children

Population: ventilated adults (18 trials) and children (1 trial)

CD004711.PUB3 (current) · 3 questions

Outcome	Effect	Evidence	Status / GRADE
Artificial airway occlusion (measured over 3‐15 days (median 4 days)) Heat and moisture exchangers (HME) vs heated humidifiers (HH)	RR 1.59 [0.6, 4.19]	15 studies · 2171 participants	Low Downgraded: indirectness
Mortality ‐ all cause (Measured over 3‐15 days (median 8 days)) Heat and moisture exchangers (HME) vs heated humidifiers (HH)	RR 1.03 [0.89, 1.2]	12 studies · 1951 participants	Low Downgraded: indirectness
Pneumonia (Measured over 4‐21 days (median 4 days)) Heat and moisture exchangers (HME) vs heated humidifiers (HH)	RR 0.93 [0.73, 1.19]	13 studies · 2251 participants	Low Downgraded: indirectness

HME compared to HH for ventilated adults and children

Population: patients with ventilated adults and children

CD004711.PUB2 · 3 questions

Outcome	Effect	Evidence	Status / GRADE
Artifical airway occlusion HME vs HH	RR 1.59 [0.6, 4.19]	15 studies · 2171 participants	High
Mortality ‐ all cause HME vs HH	RR 1.04 [0.9, 1.21]	12 studies · 1951 participants	High
Pneumonia HME vs HH	RR 0.92 [0.71, 1.2]	12 studies · 2236 participants	High