Why Turning Covid-19 Patients on Their Belly Saves Lives

When a patient with coronavirus has low levels of oxygen and is admitted in the Texas University Hospital in San Antonio, the doctors immediately flip them to lie on the stomach.

This practice is known in medicine as proning and it’s considered beneficial as it elevates the patients’ chance for survival, explains Doctor Owais Durrani, a resident physician in the ED.

He says it works miracles.

When the virus began spreading fast in the US back in March, the patients would usually spend days lying on their backs until the doctors realized that lying on the stomach improves the flow of oxygen into the lungs.

One of the Small Adjustments Doctors Are Trying in Order to Help

Proning is one of the several methods that doctors have been trying with covid-19 patients when they’re in the hospital.

The other methods include waiting as long as possible before placing the patient on a ventilator and watching out for blood clots or fungal infections.

Usage of steroids and the experimental drug remdesivir are also bettering the chances for survival.

Hoping that Mortality Rates Will Drop

The doctors from the Sunbelt states in the US on the west and south where the number of patients in hospitals is increasing are hopeful that these changes will help reduce the mortality rates.

Dr. Durrani says that this is one of the reasons why death rates aren’t as high as in the places where it hit first like in New York. In Texas, the death rate per 100,000 people is 11.6, according to CDC and Prevention data.

The rate in New York City is 278.1.

But, data from New York hospitals quickly changed after the doctors made the needed modifications to prevent serious illness in the patients.

Dr. Leora Horwitz, an associate professor of population health and medicine and a co-author of a study with more than 5000 New York patients which showed that outcome seems to better potentially because of care improvements says that she’s optimistic that even without some blockbuster treatment, these small changes are making a difference.

But, Although Small, These Changes Aren’t Easy to Implement

Although they seem small, changes like proning isn’t always easy to implement.

The common practice is to put a sedated patient in ICU on the front; however, it’s harder to make a woke one to lie on the stomach for up to 16 hours per day.

The NYU Langone hospital administrators bought more pillows to place under the hips of the patients and made tutorial videos to help nurses learn how to improve the care the patients who need to lie on their stomachs.

Sources:

CNN

FT