# Efficacy of respiratory rehabilitation in patients with COVID-19: a retrospective study

## TL;DR

This study found that combining airway clearance technology with prone ventilation improves outcomes for severe COVID-19 patients.

## Contribution

The study demonstrates that combining airway clearance with prone ventilation improves oxygenation and inflammation in severe COVID-19 patients.

## Key findings

- The observation group showed better oxygen index, PCT, and IL-6 levels compared to the control group.
- Airway clearance combined with prone ventilation improved respiratory function and inflammatory markers in severe COVID-19 patients.

## Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in millions of confirmed cases and deaths globally. The purpose of this study was to investigate the therapeutic effect of airway clearance technology combined with prone ventilation on patients infected with COVID-19.

38 patients with COVID-19 (severe) who were treated in the intensive rehabilitation group of Shengli Oilfield Central Hospital. They were randomly divided into a control group and an observation group. The control group received prone position ventilation intervention, and the observation group received airway clearance technology combined with prone position ventilation intervention. The changes of oxygen and index, procalcitonin (PCT), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and chest X-ray image indexes were compared between the two groups.

There was no significant difference in age, gender and other general data between the control group and the observation group. The results showed that oxygen index, PCT, IL-6 and chest X-ray image index in the observation group were better than that indexes in the control group.

Airway clearance technology combined with prone ventilation intervention in patients with COVID-19 can improve the total effective rate and oxygenation index, improve the inflammatory indicators and respiratory function of patients. And it may be widely promoted and used in the treatment of patients with COVID-19 (severe).