Background : Respiratory physiotherapy (RPT) is considered essential in patients’ management during intensive care unit (ICU) stay. The role of RPT in critically ill COVID-19 patients is poorly described. We aimed to investigate the effects of RPT on oxygenation and lung aeration in critically ill COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU. Methods : Observational pre-post study. Patients with severe COVID-19 admitted to the ICU, who received a protocolized CPT session and for which a pre-and post-RPT lung ultrasound (LUS) was performed, were included. A subgroup of patients had an available quantitative computed tomography (CT) scan performed within 4 days from RPT. The primary aim was to evaluate whether RPT improved oxygenation; secondary aims included correlations between LUS, CT and response to RPT. Results : Twenty patients were included. The median (1st–3rd quartile) PaO 2 /FiO 2 was 181 (105–456), 244 (137–497) and 246 (137–482) at baseline (T0), after RPT (T1), and after 6 h (T2), respectively. PaO 2 /FiO 2 improved throughout the study ( p = 0.042); particularly, PaO 2 /FiO 2 improved at T1 in respect to T0 ( p = 0.011), remaining higher at T2 ( p = 0.007) compared to T0. Correlations between LUS, volume of gas (rho = 0.58, 95%CI 0.05–0.85, p = 0.033) and hyper-aerated mass at CT scan (rho = 0.54, 95% CI 0.00–0.84, p = 0.045) were detected. No significant changes in LUS score were observed before and after RPT. Conclusions : RPT improved oxygenation and the improvement persisted after 6 h. Oxygenation improvement was not reflected by aeration changes assessed with LUS. Further studies are warranted to assess the efficacy of RPT in COVID-19 ICU patients.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, intensive care unit, rehabilitation, Lung ultrasound, Chest physiotherapy, respiratory physiotherapy, 【초록키워드】 Efficacy, intensive care, severe COVID-19, lung, ICU, Computed tomography, Critically ill, management, CT scan, Patient, ICU Patients, respiratory, correlation, change, Quantitative, COVID-19 patient, Oxygenation, Volume, 95%CI, 95% CI, quartile, Effect, Result, described, significant changes in, performed, evaluate, was performed, median, reflected, baseline, PaO, subgroup of patient, 【제목키워드】 Physiotherapy, respiratory,