ResMed - Bilevel Therapy

Bilevel devices serve two primary purposes:

Provide positive airway pressure therapy for sleep-disordered breathing patients who are noncompliant with CPAP therapy
Provide noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV, sometimes NIPPV) therapy for hospital or in-home use

Although both are non-invasive, Bilevel and CPAP therapy differ in two significant ways:

Bilevel devices deliver two levels of air pressure that are set to coincide with the patient's inspiratory and expiratory efforts
Bilevel therapy can be used to treat conditions other than sleep apnea (OSA) and is the first line of treatment for a wide-range of respiratory disorders

What conditions are frequently treated with bilevel devices?

A broad range of conditions, including:

Respiratory muscle dysfunction
Neurological disorders
Chest wall deformity
Lung disease
Acute respiratory failure

Is bilevel therapy typically prescribed for OSA patients?

No.

Bilevel therapy is not typically prescribed for OSA patients; however, OSA patients who are not compliant to CPAP therapy, require high treatment pressures or have another respiratory condition may be candidates for bilevel therapy.