Awake Prone Position in Hypoxemic Patients with Coronavirus Disease 19
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) can cause low oxygen levels and life-threatening lung failure. Many COVID‑19 patients will need treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with life support and a breathing machine. A possible treatment that could stop patients in hospital from developing lung failure is prone positioning. Prone positioning is when a patient lays on their stomach and rests for several hours. The risks of prone positioning in COVID‑19 are not known. We designed a clinical trial to test if prone positioning before patients need life support can prevent death or the need for a breathing machine. Patients with COVID‑19 and low oxygen levels will be treated with either prone positioning or normal positioning. The clinical trial will be performed at 34 hospitals across Canada, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico. If prone positioning saves patients’ lives or prevents the need for breathing machines, it will be used in hospitals across Canada and around the world.
