VOLUME 24 , ISSUE 12 ( December, 2020 ) > List of Articles
Gunjan Chanchalani
Citation Information : Chanchalani G. Awake Proning: Current Evidence and Practical Considerations. Indian J Crit Care Med 2020; 24 (12):1236-1241.
DOI: 10.5005/jp-journals-10071-23684
License: CC BY-NC 4.0
Published Online: 22-02-2021
Copyright Statement: Copyright © 2020; The Author(s).
Prone positioning has been shown to improve oxygenation for decades. However, proning in awake, non-intubated patients gained acceptance in the last few months since the onset of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. To overcome the shortage of ventilators, to decrease the overwhelming burden on intensive care beds in the pandemic era, and also as invasive ventilation was associated with poor outcomes, proning of awake, spontaneously breathing patients gathered momentum. Being an intervention with minimal risk and requiring minimum assistance, it is now a globally accepted therapy to improve oxygenation in acute hypoxemic respiratory failure in COVID-19 patients. We thus reviewed the literature of awake proning in non-intubated patients and described a safe protocol to practice the same.