An Inter Departmental Seminar on Post-Covid manifestations was held at KIMS on 16th September 2021. In their presentation titled “An Insight into Post COVID Manifestations – Our KIMS Experience”, Dr. C. Mohan Rao HoD, Pulmonary Medicine Dept., KIMS and Dr. Suman Jagaty, Assistant Professor mentioned, there was a decline of COVID cases after the Second Wave that had caused an increase in mortality and morbidity in the face of an overstretched healthcare system. KIMS is now witnessing a number of cases with anatomic and functional impairment due to the Post COVID scenario, which is called Long Covid for the symptoms persisting beyond four weeks after acute COVID illness. There is paucity of discrete guidelines on management protocols of these entities. There is a need to have a road map.
KIMS has made a study of Long COVID cases numbering 162 in the post COVID ward, ICU and 134 cases in Post COVID clinic from March to September 2021. The study included detailed demographics, clinical features, imaging, co-morbidities and inflammatory biomarkers like-CRP, D-Dimer. They were given specific treatment which included a cocktail of antibiotics, ICS+LABA, N-acetyl cysteine, antifibrotics, and steroids. Integrated pulmonary rehabilitation programme was carried for all the cases which included oxygen therapy, limb muscle training, diaphragmatic breathing exercise, and pursed lip breathing, etc.
The findings were like this: Out of 296 cases witnessed as Long Covid among the 9000 cases admitted, obstructive airway disease pattern seen in 24% cases, non-fibrotic ILD pattern in 8.7% cases, fibrotic ILD pattern in 5.4%, pneumonia seen in 13.8%, extra pulmonary manifestations seen in 8.5%, Pneumothorax and miscellaneous 5%, and mild reversible upper respiratory syndrome in 34.6%.
More than 90% cases were discharged which shows successful multidisciplinary management which included pharmacotherapy, physiotherapy, intercostal chest tube drainage with autologous blood for persistent BPF, judicious administration of antibiotics, steroids, antifibrotics.
Being the premier institution in COVID management in Odisha, KIMS has managed more than 9000 cases so far, the experience of 296 cases of Long COVID will be a shot in the arm for future research.