(1) Background: COVID-19 is a novel cause of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Indeed, with the increase of ARDS cases due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has also been an increase in the incidence of cases with pneumothorax (PNX) and pneumomediastinum (PNM). However, the incidence and the predictors of PNX/PMN in these patients are currently unclear and even conflicting. (2) Methods: The present observational study analyzed the incidence of barotrauma (PNX/PNM) in COVID-19 patients with moderate–severe ARDS hospitalized in a year of the pandemic, also focusing on the three waves occurring during the year, and treated with positive-pressure ventilation (PPV). We collected demographic and clinical data. (3) Results: During this period, 40 patients developed PNX/PNM. The overall incidence of barotrauma in all COVID-19 patients hospitalized in a year was 1.6%, and in those with moderate–severe ARDS in PPV was 7.2% and 3.8 events per 1000 positive-pressure ventilator days. The incidence of barotrauma in moderate–severe ARDS COVID-19 patients during the three waves was 7.8%, 7.4%, and 8.7%, respectively. Treatment with noninvasive respiratory support alone was associated with an incidence of barotrauma of 9.1% and 2.6 events per 1000 noninvasive ventilator days, of which 95% were admitted to the ICU after the event, due to a worsening of respiratory parameters. The incidence of barotrauma of ICU COVID-19 patients in invasive ventilation over a year was 5.8% and 2.7 events per 1000 invasive ventilator days. There was no significant difference in demographics and clinical features between the barotrauma and non-barotrauma group. The mortality was higher in the barotrauma group (17 patients died, 47.2%) than in the non-barotrauma group (170 patients died, 37%), although this difference was not statistically significant ( p = 0.429). (4) Conclusions: The incidence of PNX/PNM in moderate–severe ARDS COVID-19 patients did not differ significantly between the three waves over a year, and does not appear to be very different from that in ARDS patients in the pre-COVID era. The barotrauma does not appear to significantly increase mortality in COVID-19 patients with moderate–severe ARDS if protective ventilation strategies are applied. Attention should be paid to the risk of barotrauma in COVID-19 patients in noninvasive ventilation because the event increases the probability of admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) and intubation.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, intensive care unit, non-invasive ventilation, Pneumothorax, Invasive mechanical ventilation, COVID-19 waves, Pneumomediastinum, barotrauma, subcutaneous emphysema, 【초록키워드】 ARDS, pandemic, Hospitalized, Mortality, intensive care, COVID-19 pandemic, Ventilation, Noninvasive ventilation, intubation, risk, invasive ventilation, ICU, Probability, Patient, predictor, incidence, Admission, clinical feature, Protective, acute respiratory distress, COVID-19 patient, noninvasive, demographics, Support, Attention, ventilator, no significant difference, Clinical data, worsening, syndrome, respiratory parameters, event, invasive, not differ, analyzed, collected, significantly, applied, treated, increase, increase in, statistically significant, ARDS COVID-19 patient, ARDS patient, noninvasive respiratory, patients died, PPV, 【제목키워드】 ARDS, Italian, Level, Year,