The major challenges in managing patients with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are bilateral pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Many patients with COVID-19 will be in critical condition and will need intubation. Human-to-human transmission has been confirmed, and the virus has spread across the world. Based on current real-time reports, there are 78,962 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 7,952 patients still in critical condition as of February 28, 2020. Many have been intubated and many remain to be intubated. The problem is that the viral load in the airway is probably very high and is very contagious. This poses significant risks for these who are performing intubation.
Anesthesiology. 2020 Jun [Epub]
Mengqiang Luo, Shumei Cao, Liqun Wei, Rundong Tang, Shu Hong, Renyu Liu, Yingwei Wang
Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China (R.L.). RenYu.Liu@pennmedicine.
upenn.edu.