Evaluation of barotrauma cases following respiratory assistance methods in patients with COVID-19 admitted to ICU wards of Razi & Poursina Hospitals in Rasht during 2020

Abstract: Introduction: In the treatment process of hospitalized Covid-19 patients, one of the threatening complications is lung injuries like barotrauma. Objective: This study aims to investigate the prevalence of Barotrauma as a complication in Patients with Covid-19 admitted to ICU wards of Razi & Poorsina Hospitals in Rasht. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective, cross sectional descriptive study that patients with covid-19, admitted to ICU wards of Razi & Poorsina Hospitals in Rasht enrolled the study. a checklist containing Patient`s background information and Pulmonary complications were recorded by an anesthesia assistant. Results: Finally A total of 140 files were evaluated. 81 patients (57.9%) underwent non-invasive ventilation and 59 patients (42.1%) underwent invasive ventilation through ventilator. In 9 cases (6.4%) barotrauma was observed that 8 of them (88.9%) had pneumothorax and one (11.1%) had pneumothorax in concomitant with sub-emphysema. The results showed a statistically significant relationship between the type of respiratory ventilation (invasive or non-invasive) in patients with Covid_19 and the incidence of pulmonary complications (barotrauma)(P = 0.004). Conclusion: a small percentage of patients were suffering from pulmonary complications in the form of barotrauma, which could be indicating the proper performance of ICU attending and appropriate treatment decisions.