Diagnostic Assessment of Respiratory and Hemodynamic Changes Related to Prone Position in COVID-19 Patients

Objective: To study the respiratory patterns and the hemodynamic variations related to postural changes in inpatients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Methods: This report is a prospective study in a cohort of inpatients admitted with COVID-19. We recruited 10 patients admitted to the hospital with moderate or severe COVID-19 who showed improvement in oxygen saturation with prone positioning. We performed cardiorespiratory polygraphy and hemodynamic evaluations by thoracic electrical bioimpedance. Results: We observed a median minimum oxygen saturation of 85.00% (IQR: 7.00) in the supine position versus 91.00% (IQR: 8.00) ( P = 0.173) in the prone position. The airflow restriction in the supine position was 2.70% (IQR: 6.55) versus 1.55% (IQR: 2.80) ( P = 0.383) in the prone position. A total of 36.4% of patients were classified as having a normo-hemodynamic state in the supine position, whereas 54.5% were classified in this group in the prone position ( P = 0.668). A decrease in vascular resistance was observed in the prone position (18.2% of vasoconstriction) compared to the supine position (36.4% of vasoconstriction) ( P = 0.871). Conclusion: This brief report describes the effects of prone positioning on respiratory and hemodynamic variables in 10 patients with moderate or severe COVID-19.