High flow nasal therapy in the management of hypoxemic dyspnea at the end of life.

Refractory dyspnea is challenging for physicians treating patients near to the end of life. High-flow nasal therapy (HFNT). We report a case in which HFNS was effective in a patient in the last days of life to mitigate dyspnea allowing a minimal quality of life for some days before dying. HFNT may be helpful for severely hypoxemic patients who are unresponsive to common measured adopted in the last weeks-days of life of advanced cancer patients. Future studies should assess an early use of this device in combination with lower doses of opioids or as an alternative.