scholarly journals How the COVID-19 infection tsunami revolutionized the work of respiratory physiotherapists: an experience from Northern Italy

2020 ◽  
Vol 90 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Simonelli ◽  
Mara Paneroni ◽  
Aubin Georges Fokom ◽  
Manuela Saleri ◽  
Ilaria Speltoni ◽  
...  

Due to COVID-19 outbreak, to lighten the burden of acute and critical care hospitals, some respiratory rehabilitation departments have been used to host patients with COVID-19 in the post-acute phase. This new and unexpected situation required a change of roles and scheduling of the rehabilitation teams. In this manuscript we describe the unexpected and urgent organizational change of the Cardio-Pulmonary Rehabilitation (CPR) service during the COVID-19 emergency in a Northern Italian rehabilitation hospital, focusing on the Respiratory Physiotherapists’ (RPTs) role. A quick three-days complete reorganization of the entire hospital was needed. A COVID-19 care team including a multidisciplinary panel of physicians, nurses, and RPTs was quickly performed to manage 90 beds for post acute patients with COVID-19. Within the team, the RPTs changed their shifts, so as to be available 16h per day, 7 days out of 7. Remodelled tasks in charge of RPTs were: oxygen therapy daily monitoring, non invasive ventilation (NIV) and continuous positive airways pressure (CPAP) delivery, pronation and postural changes to improve oxygenation, reconditioning with leg/arm cranking and exercises, initial and final patients’ functional assessment by short-physical performance battery (SPPB) and 1-minute sit-to-stand test (1-STS) to evaluate motor conditions and exercise-induced oxygen desaturation. Three “what-to-do” algorithms were developed to guide: i) oxygen de-escalation by reducing inhaled fraction of oxygen (FiO2); ii) oxygenation improvement through the use of Venturi mask; iii) reconditioning and physical activity. One-hundred seventy patients were treated in one month. As main topics, RPTs have been involved in oxygen therapy management in almost a third of the admitted patients, reconditioning exercises in 60% of the cases, and initial and final functional motor capacity assessment in all patients. Details of activities performed by the RPT in one typical working day are also shown. Our reorganization has exploited the professional skills and clinical expertise of the RPTs. This re-organization can provide practical insights to other facilities that are facing this crisis, and may be a starting point for implementing post-COVID-19 rehabilitation. Future studies will have to improve and review this organization.

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. e045659
Author(s):  
René Robert ◽  
Denis Frasca ◽  
Julie Badin ◽  
C Girault ◽  
Christophe Guitton ◽  
...  

IntroductionA palliative approach to intensive care unit (ICU) patients with acute respiratory failure and a do-not-intubate order corresponds to a poorly evaluated target for non-invasive oxygenation treatments. Survival alone should not be the only target; it also matters to avoid discomfort and to restore the patient’s quality of life. We aim to conduct a prospective multicentre observational study to analyse clinical practices and their impact on outcomes of palliative high-flow nasal oxygen therapy (HFOT) and non-invasive ventilation (NIV) in ICU patients with do-not-intubate orders.Methods and analysisThis is an investigator-initiated, multicentre prospective observational cohort study comparing the three following strategies of oxygenation: HFOT alone, NIV alternating with HFOT and NIV alternating with standard oxygen in patients admitted in the ICU for acute respiratory failure with a do-not-intubate order. The primary outcome is the hospital survival within 14 days after ICU admission in patients weaned from NIV and HFOT. The sample size was estimated at a minimum of 330 patients divided into three groups according to the oxygenation strategy applied. The analysis takes into account confounding factors by modelling a propensity score.Ethics and disseminationThe study has been approved by the ethics committee and patients will be included after informed consent. The results will be submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals.Trial registration numberNCT03673631


2022 ◽  
Vol 35 (13) ◽  
Author(s):  
Themistoklis Paraskevas ◽  
Eleousa Oikonomou ◽  
Maria Lagadinou ◽  
Vasileios Karamouzos ◽  
Nikolaos Zareifopoulos ◽  
...  

Introduction: Oxygen therapy remains the cornerstone for managing patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection and several modalities of non-invasive ventilation are used worldwide. High-flow oxygen via nasal canula is one therapeutic option which may in certain cases prevent the need of mechanical ventilation. The aim of this review is to summarize the current evidence on the use of high-flow nasal oxygen in patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection.Material and Methods: We conducted a systematic literature search of the databases PubMed and Cochrane Library until April 2021 using the following search terms: “high flow oxygen and COVID-19” and “high flow nasal and COVID-19’’.Results: Twenty-three articles were included in this review, in four of which prone positioning was used as an adjunctive measure. Most of the articles were cohort studies or case series. High-flow nasal oxygen therapy was associated with a reduced need for invasive ventilation compared to conventional oxygen therapy and led to an improvement in secondary clinical outcomes such as length of stay. The efficacy of high-flow nasal oxygen therapy was comparable to that of other non-invasive ventilation options, but its tolerability is likely higher. Failure of this modality was associated with increased mortality.Conclusion: High flow nasal oxygen is an established option for respiratory support in COVID-19 patients. Further investigation is required to quantify its efficacy and utility in preventing the requirement of invasive ventilation.


2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 546-551 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Johannes Walker ◽  
Stephan Walterspacher ◽  
Emelie Ekkernkamp ◽  
Jan Hendrik Storre ◽  
Wolfram Windisch ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-56
Author(s):  
К. A. Tsygankov ◽  
I. N. Grachev ◽  
Vladimir I. Shatalov ◽  
А. V. Schegolev ◽  
D. A. Аveryanov ◽  
...  

The objective: to evaluate the effect of high-flow oxygen and non-invasive ventilation on the mortality rate in adults with severe respiratory failure caused by the new coronavirus infection in the intensive care unit (ICU).Subjects and methods. A one-center retrospective study was conducted. Electronic medical files of patients treated in the ICU from April 1 to May 25, 2020, were analyzed. Totally, 101 medical files were selected, further, they were divided into two groups. Group 1 (n = 49) included patients who received oxygen insufflation, and should it fail, they received traditional artificial ventilation. No non-invasive respiratory therapy was used in this group. Group 2 (n = 52) included patients who received high-flow oxygen therapy and non-invasive ventilation. The mortality rate in the groups made a primary endpoint for assessing the impact of high-flow oxygen therapy and non-invasive ventilation. The following parameters were also analyzed: drug therapy, the number of patients in whom non-invasive techniques were used taking into account the frequency of cases when these techniques failed, and the number of patients in whom artificial ventilation was initiated.Results. In Group 2, non-invasive methods of respiratory therapy were used in 31 (60%) cases. High-flow oxygen therapy was used in 19 (36%) of them; in 13 cases this method allowed weaning them from the high flow. Non-invasive ventilation was used in 18 cases, in 12 patients it was used due to progressing severe respiratory failure during humidified oxygen insufflation, in 6 patients – after the failed high-flow oxygen therapy. In Group 1, 25 (51%) patients were intubated and transferred to artificial ventilation, in Group 2, 10 (19.2%) underwent the same. The lethal outcome was registered in 23 (47%) cases in Group 1, and in 10 (19.2%) in Group 2 (p = 0.004). Analysis of drug therapy in the groups revealed the difference in the prescription of pathogenetic therapy. Logistic regression demonstrated the effectiveness of the combination of tocilizumab + a glucocorticoid in reducing the frequency of lethal cases (p = 0.001).Conclusion. The use of non-invasive respiratory support in adults with severe respiratory failure caused by the new coronavirus infection combined with therapy by tocilizumab + a glucocorticoid can reduce the incidence of lethal cases.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhili Wang ◽  
Yu He ◽  
Xiaolong Zhang ◽  
Zhengxiu Luo

Background: Multiple non-invasive ventilation (NIV) modalities have been identified that may improve the prognosis of pediatric patients with acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI). However, the effect of NIV in children with ALRI remains inconclusive. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of various NIV strategies including continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), high flow nasal cannula (HFNC), bilevel positive airway pressure (BIPAP), and standard oxygen therapy in children with ALRI and the need for supplemental oxygen.Methods: Embase, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases were searched from inception to July 2021. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared different NIV modalities for children with ALRI and the need for supplemental oxygen were included. Data were independently extracted by two reviewers. Primary outcomes were intubation and treatment failure rates. Secondary outcome was in-hospital mortality. Pairwise and Bayesian network meta-analyses within the random-effects model were used to synthesize data. The certainty of evidence was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation framework.Results: A total of 21 RCTs involving 5,342 children were included. Compared with standard oxygen therapy, CPAP (OR: 0.40, 95% CrI: 0.16–0.90, moderate quality) was associated with a lower risk of intubation. Furthermore, both CPAP (OR: 0.42, 95% CrI: 0.19–0.81, low quality) and HFNC (OR: 0.51, 95% CrI: 0.29–0.81, low quality) reduced treatment failure compared with standard oxygen therapy. There were no significant differences among all interventions for in-hospital mortality. Network meta-regression showed that there were no statistically significant subgroup effects.Conclusion: Among children with ALRI and the need for supplemental oxygen, CPAP reduced the risk of intubation when compared to standard oxygen therapy. Both CPAP and HFNC were associated with a lower risk of treatment failure than standard oxygen therapy. However, evidence is still lacking to show benefits concerning mortality between different interventions. Further large-scale, multicenter studies are needed to confirm our results.Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=172156, identifier: CRD42020172156.


Pneumologie ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfram Windisch ◽  
Bernd Schönhofer ◽  
Daniel Sebastian Majorski ◽  
Maximilian Wollsching-Strobel ◽  
Carl-Peter Criée ◽  
...  

ZusammenfassungIn der Corona-Pandemie werden zunehmend nicht-invasive Verfahren zur Behandlung des akuten hypoxämischen Versagens bei COVID-19 eingesetzt. Hier stehen mit der HFOT (high-flow oxygen therapy), CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) und der NIV (non-invasive ventilation) unterschiedliche Verfahren zur Verfügung, die das Ziel einer Intubationsvermeidung verfolgen. Der aktuelle Übersichtsartikel fasst die heterogene Studienlage zusammen. Wesentlich ist die Erkenntnis, dass diese nicht-invasiven Verfahren durchaus auch bei einem schweren, akuten hypoxämischen Versagen erfolgreich sein können und damit die Intubation wie auch Tubus-assoziierte Komplikationen vermeiden können. Demgegenüber bleibt aber ebenso zu betonen, dass die prolongierte unterstützte Spontanatmung ebenfalls zu Komplikationen führt und dass demzufolge insbesondere ein spätes NIV-Versagen mit erheblich verschlechterter Prognose einhergeht, was vor dem Hintergrund weiterhin hoher NIV-Versagensraten in Deutschland bedeutsam ist. Der aktuelle Artikel verweist schließlich auch auf einen Parallelartikel in dieser Ausgabe, der die medial in der Öffentlichkeit in Deutschland geführte Debatte zu diesem Thema aufgreift und deren inhaltliche Fragwürdigkeit, aber auch die negativen Auswirkungen auf die Gesellschaft und die Fachwelt adressiert. Gleichzeitig wird die Bedeutung von regelmäßig zu überarbeitenden Leitlinien untermauert.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document