Feasibility of Physical and Occupational Therapy in Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19 Infection

Rationale:Early mobilization and physical rehabilitation improve functional outcomes and are essential to high quality critical care. Despite its importance, it is common for rehabilitation to be deferred in the critically ill due to a variety of barriers, including infection with SARS-CoV-2. We present a single academic center's experience providing physical and occupational therapy to critically ill patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. Methods:All patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) associated illness admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) from March 1st to July 31st, 2020 were identified in this retrospective chart review. Patients who received at least one therapy treatment session were included in the study. Results:Three-hundred and seventy-nine physical and occupational therapy sessions were conducted with 116 patients. The majority (85%) of patients were admitted to the ICU for hypoxemic respiratory failure. The median number of treatment sessions during ICU admission per patient was 2, (IQR: 1-4). The median time from ICU admission to first PT session was 4 days (IQR, 3-5). The median percentage of ICU days with physical and occupational therapy treatment was 33% (IQR, 21-50). The median session length was 25 minutes (IQR, 25-30min). Sitting was achieved in 353 sessions, (93%) standing was achieved in 261 sessions (69%), walking was achieved in 185 sessions (48%), and sitting in the bedside chair 118 times (31%).Patients with respiratory failure completed therapy sessions while receiving mechanical ventilation (21% of sessions), high flow nasal cannula (45% of sessions), non-invasive positive pressure ventilation by helmet and facemask (7% of sessions), and ECMO (12% of sessions). Patients requiring vasoactive medications (4%) and continuous renal replacement therapy (6%) were also treated by physical and occupational therapy. Delirium, determined by confusion assessment method (CAM-ICU), was frequently encountered by the physical and occupational therapy teams and was not an absolute barrier (32%) (Table 1). Discharge destinations included: home (n=57, 61%), acute rehabilitation units (n=16, 17%), long term acute care hospitals (n=9, 10%), sub-acute care centers (n=8, 8%), and skilled nursing facilities (n=4, 4%). No members of the therapy team were diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 during the study period. Conclusions:This report demonstrates the feasibility of conducting physical and occupational therapy in COVID-19 specific ICUs. Providing therapy services appeared to be safe for patients and members of the therapy team, as adverse events were rare and no therapist was diagnosed with COVID-19.