Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is a breathing mode where the patient spontaneously breathes through a pressurized circuit against a threshold resistor that maintains a preset positive airway pressure during both inspiration and expiration. Although several studies have demonstrated the efficacy of CPAP to reduce atelectasis and improve oxygenation in patients after abdominal surgery (8-11), no clinical trials have confirmed that the improvement of gas exchange with CPAP actually results in a reduced need for intubation and mechanical ventilation in patients who develop hypoxemia after abdominal surgery (12). We conducted a multi-center, prospective, randomized clinical trial to compare the efficacy of CPAP with standard oxygen therapy in the treatment of postoperative hypoxemia. The present study set out to examine the hypothesis that early application of CPAP may prevent intubation and mechanical ventilation in patients who develop acute hypoxemia after liver transplant.