Prone Positioning in Awake Patients With COVID-19 Requiring Hospitalization

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a major complication among patients with severe disease. In a report of 138 patients with COVID-19, 20% developed ARDS at a median of 8 days after the onset of symptoms, with 12.3% of patients requiring mechanical ventilation. Efficacious therapies are desperately needed. Supportive care combined with intermittent prone positioning may improve outcomes. Prone positioning (PP) of patients with severe ARDS (when combined with other lung-protective ventilation strategies) is associated with a significant mortality benefit. In addition, PP for \>12 hours in severe ARDS is strongly recommended by clinical practice guidelines. The aim of this study is to compare the outcomes of prone positioning versus usual care positioning in non-intubated patients hospitalized for COVID-19.