EC Pulmonology and Respiratory Medicine

Background: Hypoxemic respiratory failure is a common manifestation in COVID-19 and is associated with a higher morbidity and mortality rate.

Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study of patients admitted with COVID-19 with hypoxemia, treated with or without prone position (PP) along with standard care.

Results: A total of 98 patients with COVID-19 treated with awake PP were compared with 98 patients treated with standard of care alone. The mean age of the patients was 55.9 ± 13 years. The common co-morbid were HTN, DM and IHD. The median length of hos- pital stay in cases (with PP) and control (no PP) was 8 days (IQR 4 - 7) and 7 days (IQR 5 - 11) respectively. The use of awake PP did not reduce the risk of invasive ventilation (8.1% patients in PP vs. 3.1% in control group). “Overall mortality was 10.3%, 7.2% with PP and 13.3% with standard of care respectively (p-value 0.16)”.

Conclusion: Awake PP is a safe therapeutic option for patients with COVID-19. However, its benefit in terms of avoidance of endotra- cheal intubation, decrease duration of hospital stay and mortality are not clearly defined.

Keywords: COVID-19; Prone Position; ARDS; Pandemic; SARS-CoV-2

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