Abstract :
Background: The study aimed to determine the outcome of prone position on oxygenation by studying the ROX index of the COVID 19 patients.
Materials and Methods: This study was conducted as a prospective observational study on COVID 19 patients admitted in HDU and ICU requiring HFNC at Gandhi Medical College and Hamidia hospital Bhopal which is a tertiary COVID Centre, during the study period of 1 year. Detailed history was obtained and examination was done. Subjects who did not perform or did not allow prolonged proning were included as control. SpO2, RR, ROX index were assessed at baseline, at 30 min, hourly for 6 hours and at 12 hours to assess the improvement in oxygenation.
Results: A total of 60 COVID-19 confirmed cases were enrolled with mean age of 57.22±8.9 years. The two groups were thus comparable with respect to baseline variables. Mean SpO2, RR and ROX index significantly improved following prone positioning. The need for invasive mechanical ventilation was significantly higher in group 2 (30.8%) as compared to group 1 (8.8%), (p
Conclusion: Prone positioning is a simple and safe manoeuvre to improve oxygenation in COVID-19-associated hypoxemic respiratory failure. Prone positioning for longer duration reduce the work of breathing and improve the respiratory rate, SpO2 and FiO2 and ROX index. Also, prone positioning for prolonged duration is effective in obviating the need for invasive mechanical ventilation.
Keyword :
Prone position, ROX index, Mechanical ventilation, Oxygenation, SpO2, Recovery