COVID-19

Brief HPI:

A 38 year-old male with a history of hypertension presents to the emergency department with fever, cough and shortness of breath. He notes 4 days of symptoms which have been gradually worsening despite over-the-counter treatments. He denies recent travel or sick contacts. While he attempted to remain isolated – his symptoms grew intolerable.

On arrival in the emergency department, vital signs were notable for tachycardia and hypoxia (SpO2 85%, improving to 92% on 4L by nasal cannula). Physical examination demonstrated tachypnea and accessory muscle use but clear lung fields, and no extremity edema nor jugular venous distension. A chest radiograph revealed patchy airspace opacities. A presumptive diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia was made.

While awaiting hospitalization, the patient’s hypoxia worsened though he remained otherwise alert and oriented. He was placed on 15L via non-rebreather and instructed regarding self-prone positioning. He was admitted to the intensive care unit.

An Algorithm for the Management of COVID-19 Hypoxic Respiratory Failure1-6

An algorithm for the management of COVID-19 respiratory failure

References

  1. Whittle, J., Pavlov, I., Sacchetti, A., Atwood, C., Rosenberg, M. (2020). Respiratory Support for Adult Patients with COVID‐19 Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/emp2.12071
  2. Hui, D., Chow, B., Chu, L., Ng, S., Lee, N., Gin, T., Chan, M. (2012). Exhaled Air Dispersion during Coughing with and without Wearing a Surgical or N95 Mask PLoS ONE  7(12), e50845. https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0050845
  3. Hui, D., Chow, B., Lo, T., Ng, S., Ko, F., Gin, T., Chan, M. (2015). Exhaled Air Dispersion During Noninvasive Ventilation via Helmets and a Total Facemask Chest  147(5), 1336-1343. https://dx.doi.org/10.1378/chest.14-1934
  4. Hui, D., Chow, B., Lo, T., Tsang, O., Ko, F., Ng, S., Gin, T., Chan, M. (2019). Exhaled air dispersion during high-flow nasal cannula therapy versus CPAP via different masks European Respiratory Journal  53(4), 1802339. https://dx.doi.org/10.1183/13993003.02339-2018
  5. Sun, Q., Qiu, H., Huang, M., Yang, Y. (2020). Lower mortality of COVID-19 by early recognition and intervention: experience from Jiangsu Province Annals of Intensive Care  10(1), 33. https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13613-020-00650-2
  6. Roca, O., Caralt, B., Messika, J., Samper, M., Sztrymf, B., Hernández, G., García-de-Acilu, M., Frat, J., Masclans, J., Ricard, J. (2018). An Index Combining Respiratory Rate and Oxygenation to Predict Outcome of Nasal High-Flow Therapy American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine  199(11), 1368-1376. https://dx.doi.org/10.1164/rccm.201803-0589oc

1 Comment COVID-19

  1. D.Kane

    I know we are all thinking COVID but I had a similar patient who in the end had negative test COVID test and was found to have EF of less than 10. He reported later that he had a URI 2 months before we were seeing or testing for COVID. Be ware of the SOB patient event in this time of COVID

    Reply

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