The use of the prone position in spontaneous ventilation in a patient with COVID-19: A case report

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Describes a case of an adult COVID-19, who was addmited patient admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) and submitted to the prone position. CASE REPORT Female patient, 44 years old, with a previous metabolic syndrome and acquired immuno-deficiency syndrome, arrived at the emergency department. She had fever, nasal congestion, but without dyspnea. After clinical and imaging tests, she was transferred to an ICU, with suspected COVID-19. Upon arrival at the intensive unit, she was breathing spontaneously with low flow oxygen therapy, presenting hypoxemia. In addition to the established medical therapies, he was instructed to position himself in the PP for a period of 15 to 30 minutes, performed once when turning. Arterial blood gases increase to 96mmHg in PaO2 and consequently 18% in the PaO2 / FiO2 ratio, in addition to the favorable clinical evolution. CONCLUSIONS: The early indication of PP as an additional therapy in the treatment of COVID-19 patients, can have contributed to the favorable clinical outcome, especially with regard to oxygenation, evidenced by the improvement of PaO2 parameters, PaO2/FiO2 ratio and progress discharged. © 2021 Editora Universitaria da PUCRS. All rights reserved.