The best time to start the rehabilitation of patients with severe COVID-19

When is the most appropriate time to start physical rehabilitation for patients with severe COVID-19? An investigation on the matter has allowed to find the answer to that question.

A retrospective study of the Bellvitge University Hospital (HUB) and the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), located in Hospitalet de Llobregat and part of the CERCA institution of the Generalitat de Catalunya, shows that initiating physical rehabilitation of patients admitted to the IRCU for severe COVID-19 before seven days of hospitalization reduces the time in the hospital.

The author team of the study, headed by Jaume Bordas-Martínez, analyzed the data of patients admitted between March and May 2020. And it has verified that those who started physical rehabilitation before seven days from the date of admission significantly reduced their hospital stay.

Physiotherapy for the physical rehabilitation of patients admitted to the IRCU is widely recommended. However, during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the risk of contagion among health personnel, added to the lack of data on the best time to start rehabilitation and the procedure to follow, led to not following a standardized protocol. and to carry out very diverse approaches.

Now, this study by the Pulmonology research group at IDIBELL and the Bellvitge University Hospital has evaluated the impact and safety of starting physical rehabilitation early.

Image, captured by electron microscope and then processed, showing in blue a human cell heavily infected with viral particles of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, the culprit of the COVID-19 pandemic disease. These virus particles are shown in red. (Image: NIAID/NIH)

The study, which includes 159 patients, shows that patients with an early approach reduce hospital stay to an average of 19 days, while those who start rehabilitation after seven days of admission have an average stay of 34 days.

The work also shows that none of the physiotherapists involved in early rehabilitation were infected with coronavirus. No adverse effects of early rehabilitation were identified in patients.

The study is titled “Effects of Early Physical Therapy and Follow-Up in Acute Severe Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pneumonia: A Retrospective Observational Study.” And it has been published in the academic journal Frontiers in Medicine. (Source: IDIBELL)