Use of prone position in spontaneous breathing in patients with COVID-19.

Objective: To investigate if awake prone position (PP) reduces the rate of endotracheal intubation and mortality in patients with COVID-19 admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU).

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of 726 patients who were admitted to the ICU with acute hypoxic respiratory failure secondary to COVID-19. The protocol of the institution recommended the use of awake PP in patients with nasal catheter with an oxygen flow ≥ 5 L/min and SpO₂ ≤ 90% or a high-flow nasal catheter (HFNC) with FiO₂ ≥ 50% and SpO₂ ≤ 90%. The following data were collected: age, comorbidities, SAPS-3 score, onset of symptoms, the degree of pulmonary involvement, duration of invasive and noninvasive MV, HFNC therapy, nitric oxide therapy, hemodialysis and PP while spontaneously breathing.

Results: There was a higher mortality rate in the supine position group (27.1%) than in the awake PP group (13.9%). There was no significant difference in the time on MV or number of patients on MV (p>0.05). The variables with p < 0.05 in the bivariate analysis were entered into the Cox regression model. The model was adjusted for awake PP, sex, age, SAPS-3 score, onset of symptoms, the degree of pulmonary involvement, chronic arterial disease, and noninvasive ventilation. The only variable associated with lower mortality over time was awake PP (hazard ratio: 0.55; 95% confidence interval: 0.33-0.92).

Conclusion: Awake prone position has been shown to be a safe and effective therapy that reduced mortality but not the risk of intubation in patients with COVID-19.