Oxygen Therapy in COVID-19
Author(s): Netra Mankar and Guddi Laishram*
Abstract
One of the main causes of death in COVID-19 is hypoxia which occurs due to damage to the lungs. For this damage we need to give a patient oxygen therapy which is essential for saving the life. In the following article we have given information about different oxygen therapy and combinations which shows improvement in patient’s status. Prone ventilation has also shown beneficial effect in homogeneous ventilation and can be performed at home based management. With the help of dual therapy and nocturnal therapy we have focused on benefits which have been noticed while using this therapy. By comparing risk benefit ratio high flow nasal cannula and non-invasive ventilation has gotten more attention as these proven to be machine of need. As numbers of cases rises suddenly intubation is not possible due to increased risk of transmission of infection so in early phase of disease high flow nasal cannula and non-invasive ventilation have been tried so that patient's status can improve and severity of disease will decreases. In article we have tried to explain importance of early intervention with high flow nasal cannula and non-invasive ventilation before intubation. With the help of these methods along with combination and prone position maximum benefit and improvement have been achieved and all these methods and techniques are inter dependent for achieving highest possible response in patient's condition. Oxygen therapy is the preferred treatment in moderate to severe cases as main sign of infection is hypoxia which is the main culprit in this scenario.