Basic Critical Care for Management of COVID-19 Patients: Position Paper of Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine, Part-I.

With more than 23 million infections and more than 814,000 deaths worldwide, the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is still far from over. Several classes of drugs including antivirals, antiretrovirals, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and antibiotics have been tried with varying levels of success. Still, there is lack of any specific therapy to deal with this infection. Although less than 30% of these patients require intensive care unit admission, morbidity and mortality in this subgroup of patients remain high. Hence, it becomes imperative to have general principles to guide intensivists managing these patients. However, as the literature emerges, these recommendations may change and hence, frequent updates may be required. How to cite this article: Juneja D, Savio RD, Srinivasan S, Pandit RA, Ramasubban S, Reddy PK, et al. Basic Critical Care for Management of COVID-19 Patients: Position Paper of Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine, Part-I. Indian J Crit Care Med 2020;24(Suppl 5):S244-S253.

Procedures in COVID-19 Patients: Part-I.

The number of cases with novel coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) infection is increasing every day in the world, and India contributes a substantial proportion of this burden. Critical care specialists have accepted the challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and are frontline warriors in this war. They have worked hard in streamlining workflow isolation of positive patients, clinical management of critically ill patients, and infection prevention practices. With no end in sight for this pandemic, intensive care unit (ICU) practitioners, hospital administrators, and policy makers have to join hands to prepare for the surge in critical care bed capacity. In this position article, we offer several suggestions on important interventions to the ICU practitioners for better management of critically ill patients. This position article highlights key interventions for COVID-19 treatment and covers several important issues such as endotracheal intubation and tracheostomy (surgical vs PCT), nebulization, bronchoscopy, and invasive procedures such as central venous catheters, arterial lines, and HD catheters. How to cite this article: Pande RK, Bhalla A, SN Myatra, Yaddanpuddi LN, Gupta S, Sahoo TK, et al. Procedures in COVID-19 Patients: Part-I. Indian J Crit Care Med 2020;24(Suppl 5):S263-S271.