Authors: Sağıroğlu G, Baysal A, Copuroğlu E, Gül Y, Karamustafaoğlu Y, Dogukan M Abstract Introductıon: Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) is a preferred treatment in acute respiratory failure after operations. Our aim is to investigate the success of early use of bilevel positive airway pressure (BIPAP) after cardiac or thoracic surgeries to prevent reintubation. METHODS: In a prospective randomized study, 254 patients were divided into two groups depending on the time period between extubation and the application of BIPAP. In Group 1 BIPAP was applied after extubation within 48 hours after surgery following fulfilling of acute respiratory failure criterias whereas, in Group 2, BIPAP was applied one hour after extubation for two episodes of 20 minute duration and 3 hours ap...