Unanticipated demand of Physiotherapist-Deployed Airway Clearance during the COVID-19 Surge 2020 a single centre report.
Claire Black, Roman Klapaukh, Alison Gordon and 2 others
PMID 34597901WHAT IT FOUND
Sixty-three of 97 analysed ventilated patients had moderate or greater sputum load on at least 5 days. 66% of physiotherapy sessions involved airway clearance, and 45% of those sessions needed two or more techniques.
Key findings
01Sixty-three of the 97 analysed ventilated patients had moderate or greater sputum load on at least 5 days.
0266% of documented treatment sessions involved airway clearance, and 45% of those sessions required two or more techniques.
03When cough was ineffective or absent, 507 of 947 treatments cleared a moderate or greater secretion volume.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
This is a single-centre service evaluation from one UK hospital during one period. It may not match other ICU staffing models. Four patients were not analysed because they died or were transferred before physiotherapy assessment or treatment. The findings rely on physiotherapy notes and recorded categories, not objective measurements of secretion volume, lung function or patient outcomes. The paper does not compare groups or test whether airway clearance improved clinical outcomes. The staffing estimates in the discussion are the authors' calculations, not a tested intervention or validated model. One author was part of the patients' care team.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that airway clearance techniques improved patient outcomes. This single-centre report describes secretion burden and treatment frequency in ventilated patients, and it does not compare outcomes or test efficacy.