Noninvasive ventilation (NIV) allows application of positive airway pressure without the need for endotracheal intubation. The main advantage of NIV is to provide respiratory support while avoiding the detrimental effects associated with invasive mechanical ventilation, sedation and paralysis. The facemask is the most used interface to deliver NIV. In the acute care setting, this technique was initially proposed to treat patients with acute hypercapnic respiratory failure due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbation [
1]. From late 1990s, NIV has been applied to manage patients in diverse clinical settings [
2]. …