Abstract
Although many coronavirus 2019 patients have experienced persistent symptoms and a long-term decline in quality of life after discharge, the details of these persistent symptoms and the effect of early rehabilitation are still unclear. We conducted a single-center, retrospective observational study to investigate the prevalence of persistent symptoms three months after discharge from the intensive care unit by checking the medical records. All patients received an early mobilization program. Four out of 13 patients (31%) had postintensive care syndrome. No patients had muscle weakness, and 11 patients (85%) returned to their previous work. However, psychiatric disorder, such as anxiety (23%) and posttraumatic stress disorder (15%), were observed. Eleven patients claimed persistent symptoms, including fatigue and numbness in the extremities. Our results suggest that the implementation of an early rehabilitation program plays some role in preventing muscle weakness and that decreasing psychiatric disorders should be a next target of patient care in the intensive care unit.
Highlights
The worldwide spread of SARS-CoV-2 has caused an unprecedented pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and has had a great impact on intensive care medicine.Numerous studies have gradually established treatments for this disease
Showa University Hospital from 1 February 2020 to 31 January 2021, those that met the following three inclusion criteria were targeted for an investigation of postintensive care syndrome (PICS): (1) patients who were diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia; (2) patients who were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and stayed more than 48 h for the treatment of COVID-19 pneumonia; and (3) patients who survived and were discharged from the ICU more than three months before the survey
Two hundred and seventy-one patients were diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia, and and 35 patients patientswere weretreated treatedininthe theICU
Summary
The worldwide spread of SARS-CoV-2 has caused an unprecedented pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and has had a great impact on intensive care medicine.Numerous studies have gradually established treatments for this disease. The worldwide spread of SARS-CoV-2 has caused an unprecedented pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and has had a great impact on intensive care medicine. It has been reported that many patients experience persistent symptoms and a longterm decline in quality of life after discharge [1,2,3]. Various sequelae have been reported, it has not been fully clarified whether these sequelae are caused by COVID-19 or are related to intensive care. PICS affects the patient’s long-term prognosis and quality of life (QOL) and the psychological conditions of the patient’s family members [4]. PICS is expected to be a major issue in the era of COVID-19, and the establishment of preventive measures through the surveillance of current situations is warranted [5,6]
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