Recommendations

Document Overview

Design and created by Guideline Central in participation with the American Association for Respiratory Care.

Humidification During Invasive and Noninvasive Mechanical Ventilation

American Association for Respiratory Care

Publication Date: May 1, 2012

Page Last Updated: May 5, 2026

Recommendation Grading

Strength of Recommendation		Level of Evidence
1 - Strong	Benefit clearly outweighs risk	A	High
2 - Weak	Benefits and risks are more closely matched and are more dependent on specific clinical scenarios	B	Moderate
2 - Weak		C	Low
G-U	Good Practice Statement - Ungraded
CS	Consensus Statement – Ungraded

Document Overview

Document Title: Humidification During Invasive and Noninvasive Mechanical Ventilation

Authoring Society: American Association for Respiratory Care

Document Publication Date: May 1, 2012

Page Last Reviewed/Updated: May 5, 2026

Document Type: Guideline

Country of Publication: United States

Full Text Freely Available: Yes

Full Text Guideline: www.rcjournal.com/cpgs/pdf/12.05.0782.pdf

Source Citation: Respir Care 2012;57(5):782–788.

Document Scope, Criteria, and Use Cases

Document Objectives: The update of this clinical practice guideline is evaluating humidification during invasive and noninvasive mechanical ventilation.

Scope: Management, Treatment

Diseases/Conditions (MeSH)

D012122 - Ventilators, Mechanical

D000068998 - Humidifiers

D006813 - Humidity

D012122 - Ventilators, Mechanical

D000068998 - Humidifiers

D006813 - Humidity

Keywords: humidification, mechanical ventilation, mechanical ventilators

Target Patient Population: Patients requiring mechanical ventilation

Inclusion Criteria: Adolescent, Adult, Child, Infant

Health Care Settings: Emergency Care, Hospital, Operating and Recovery Room

Intended Users: Nurse, Nurse Practitioner, Physician, Physician Assistant

Recommendation Development Processes & Methodology

Number of Source Documents: 74

Literature Search Start Date: Monday, January 1, 1990

Literature Search End Date: Thursday, December 1, 2011

Includes peer/external review process?: Yes

Includes public comment process?: No

Methodologist involvement?: Yes

Patient involvement?: No

Includes multi-disciplinary group?: Yes

Includes systematic review?: Yes

Grades quality of strength of evidence?: Yes

Grades quality of strength of recommendation?: Yes

Discloses funding source?: Yes

Discloses conflicts of interest?: Yes

Includes benefits/harms analysis with recommendations?: No