Cardiopulmonary resuscitation in prone position and COVID-19

Abstract

Patients with severe COVID-19 infection frequently require to be in prone position. (1) Furthermore, these patients with mechanical ventilation need additional vasopressor support (95.4 % vs. 1.5 %) and exhibit a higher risk of developing atrial arrhythmias (17.7 % vs. 1.9 %). (2) A study conducted in Wuhan, China, reported that 17.9 % of the patients experienced intrahospital cardiac arrest; the arrest rhythms were asystole (89.7 %), pulseless electrical activity (4.4 %) and defibrillatable rhythms (5.9 %). (3) In order to reduce the hemodynamic effects secondary to changes in position (4),