Clinical application of a novel endoscopic mask: A randomized controlled trial in aged patients undergoing painless gastroscopy

Background: Desaturation during painless gastroscopy in aged patients leads to discontinuation of the procedure, prolonged manipulation time and increased risk of severe complications. An endoscopic nasal mask was designed to control hypoxia during the above procedures. A randomized trial was performed to test whether the novel endoscopic mask is helpful for hypoxia during painless gastroscopy in aged patients. Methods: In this randomized, controlled trial, 141 aged patients undergoing painless gastroscopy were randomized into nasal catheter group (69 patients) and endoscopic mask group (65 patients). Primary outcomes were minimum pulse oxygen saturation and incidence of pulse oxygen saturation ≤ 90%. Results: Finally, 134 aged patients were analyzed, including 69 patients in nasal catheter group and 65 patients endoscopic mask group. The minimum pulse oxygen saturation (96.4% ± 4.8%) was higher in the aged endoscopic mask group than in the aged nasal catheter group (94.3% ± 5.6%, P = 0.0075). The incidence of pulse oxygen saturation ≤ 90% did not significantly differ between the endoscopic mask group and nasal catheter group (6.2% VS 15.9%, P = 0.07). There were no severe adverse events in either groups. Conclusion: The endoscopic mask was safely used in aged patients during painless gastroscopy under propofol sedation and significantly improved the minimum pulse oxygen saturation without increasing time to examination or recovery time.