Abstract
Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between changes in oxygenation capacity during repositioning and survival outcomes in COVID-19 patients undergoing mechanical ventilation.
Methods: The analysis was performed retrospectively on 9 COVID-19 patients undergoing ventilation who were extubated without supine positioning (side-lying group), 11 patients who were extubated with prone positioning (prone-survival group), and 20 patients who were unextubated with prone positioning (prone-death group). The main analysis items were the pulmonary oxygenation ratio (P/F value) immediately after the start of mechanical ventilation, before and after the first repositioning, and the highest value during the first positioning. The relationship with the survival outcome was analyzed by multivariate analysis.
Results: The P/F values after positional change were 214.7±62.1 mmHg in the side-lying group, 171.1±57.7 mmHg in the prone-survival group, and 139.6±36.7 mmHg in the prone-death group; the prone-death group was significantly lower than the side-lying group. The P/F value after positioning was shown to be a predictor of survival outcome, with a discrimination rate of 66.7%.
Conclusion: The P/F value after positioning was significantly lower in the prone-death group than in the side-lying group, indicating that it is a predictor of survival outcome.
