Could Physical Therapy Interventions Be Adopted in the Management of Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19? A Scoping Review

Carlos Bernal-Utrera, Ernesto Anarte-Lazo, Juan Jose Gonzalez-Gerez, Elena De-La-Barrera-Aranda, Manuel Saavedra-Hernandez and Cleofas Rodriguez-Blanco
Additional contact information
Carlos Bernal-Utrera: Faculty of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Podiatry, University of Seville, 41009 Seville, Spain
Ernesto Anarte-Lazo: Doctoral Program in Health Sciences, University of Seville, 41009 Seville, Spain
Juan Jose Gonzalez-Gerez: Fisiosur I+D Research Institute, 04630 Almería, Spain
Elena De-La-Barrera-Aranda: Fisiosur I+D Research Institute, 04630 Almería, Spain
Manuel Saavedra-Hernandez: Fisiosur I+D Research Institute, 04630 Almería, Spain
Cleofas Rodriguez-Blanco: Faculty of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Podiatry, University of Seville, 41009 Seville, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 4, 1-18

Abstract: As part of COVID-19 consequences, it has been estimated that 5% of patients affected by this disease will require admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), and physical therapy techniques have been implemented in patients with other conditions admitted to ICU. The aim of the present study is to summarize all the available information about the implementation of physical therapy management in critically ill patients. From three clinical guidelines already published, we performed a search in PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and CINAHL, including systematic reviews, clinical guidelines, and randomized controlled trials, among others. Data extraction was performed independently by two reviewers. Quality assessment was developed through the AMSTAR-2 tool and PEDro Scale. A narrative synthesis was performed and 29 studies were included. The information extracted has been classified into four folders: ICU environment in COVID-19 (security aspects and management of the patient), respiratory physiotherapy (general indications and contraindications, spontaneously breathing and mechanically ventilated patient approaches), positional treatment, and exercise therapy (safety aspects and progression). The implementation of physiotherapy in patients affected with COVID-19 admitted to the ICU is a necessary strategy that prevents complications and contributes to the stabilization of patients in critical periods, facilitating their recovery.

Keywords: coronavirus; critical care rehabilitation; intensive care units; lung recruitment; physiotherapy; physical therapy modalities; severe acute respiratory syndrome (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/4/1627/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/4/1627/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:4:p:1627-:d:495855

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().