Differences between Vapotherm and CPAP/BIPAP

Specialties NICU

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Specializes in Licensed Practical Nurse.

hey everyone, i'm not at all familiar to icu nursing but i'll get there someday lol, anyway, this question is for all icu nurses... i know some information about cpap masks and machines as that i have patients that use them, but what are some differences between vapotherm, cpap, and bipap? they're all for continous positive airway pressure, but what else? advantages, disadvantages, in your experiences? thanks!!

Specializes in NICU.

Check out this thread on the topic...

https://allnurses.com/nicu-nursing-forum/cpap-sipap-high-370995.html

to understand the differences you first need to understand the difference between flow and pressure.

think about water flowing through a garden hose. without an attached nozzle you have a relatively high flow with a low pressure behind it. now either attach a nozzle or partially occlude the opening with your thumb, now you have a relatively low flow with high pressure behind it.

vapotherm is similar to the garden hose without a nozzle. vapotherm delivers a high flow (up to 40 liters/minute) through a nasal cannula with prongs that fit rather loosely in the nares.

cpap and bipap® is similar to the garden hose with the nozzle. both of these therapies requires either a mask or nasal prongs and a tight seal with the patient’s face/nose. in cpap (continuous positive airway pressure) the device delivers a continuous and constant airway pressure during both inspiration and expiration. bipap® (bi-level positive airway pressure) devices also deliver a continuous airway pressure, however the levels vary, you have one setting for inspiration and a lower setting for expiration. although the term bipap® is used generically, this is a registered trade name.

personally i think vapotherm is easier to use as it is the simplest of the three. it is also generally better accepted by the patient as it doesn’t require a tight seal with either the mask or nasal prongs.

you might refer to the wikipedia positive airway pressure article for more information. :specs:

Specializes in NICU.

Vapotherm is similar to the garden hose without a nozzle. Vapotherm delivers a high flow (up to 40 liters/minute) through a nasal cannula with prongs that fit rather loosely in the nares.

40LPM???? Yikes!!! You must be referring to the "adult" side of things. On neonates, we rarely go above 8LPM.

Yes, 40 liters on older children/teenagers. We also rarely go over 8 - 10 liters on neonates/infants. :specs:

hey everyone, i'm not at all familiar to icu nursing but i'll get there someday lol, anyway, this question is for all icu nurses... i know some information about cpap masks and machines as that i have patients that use them, but what are some differences between vapotherm, cpap, and bipap? they're all for continous positive airway pressure, but what else? advantages, disadvantages, in your experiences? thanks!!

in my experience with the vapotherm and cpap is that the vapotherm does have 'rain out' in the tubing where as cpap has a tendency to build up a lot of water in the tube which has been known to pour into the babies nose, causing bradycardia and desaturation. this is not a good thing about cpap. the vapotherm however, i feel is a bit flimsy in its manufacturing. there were 4 new vapotherms in our unit recently and already one is not working properly as the door to the chamber keeps sliding back open. the medical team i work with are not convinced that bipap actually makes any difference to the babies than cpap, but as nurses spending time with these babies for much longer periods of time, realise that there are babies that didnt do well on cpap, but coped well with bipap, so its debatable....hope this is useful info?

sorry I meant that the vapotherm DOESNT have rain out...

Specializes in EMERG.

I love the gardenhose explaination!!!

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