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Didactic and Q&A: How to Care for Critically Ill Patients

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  • For treatment of critically ill COVID-19 patients suffering from respiratory failure, physicians should consider early intubation in the ICU, lung protective ventilation, conservative fluid strategy, PEEP titration, prone positioning and ongoing supportive care
  • Additional therapies include ECMO consultation, if signs of continued hypoxaemia or elevated airway pressure, and prolonged intubation

On April 4, 2020, the Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital held a virtual didactic and Q&A session on best practices for caring for critically-ill patients. Charles Corey Hardin, MD, PhD, physician in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, presented on management of critically ill COVID-19 patients suffering from respiratory failure, the status of novel agents’ effectiveness for COVID-19—including remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine and statin—and lung protective ventilation techniques such as prone positioning and early intubation.

The session was moderated by Daniel Saddawi-Konefka, MD, MBA, Anesthesia Residency Program director at Mass General.

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