CHENNAI: In a first-of-its kind initiative, doctors at the Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital have found that rehabilitation exercises helped people with mild-to-moderate lung infection due to Covid.
As many as 214 people were enrolled for the study and were divided into two groups - 105 in one group and 109 in the other.
The group with 109 members underwent post Covid rehabilitation programme and the other group just took regular treatment and was discharged, said Dr S Padma Rani, a final year postgraduate student, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Programme, Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital. “We tried to restore their lost capacity post Covid,” said Dr Padma Rani.
“We primarily gave them breathing exercise to improve their ability to transport oxygen from lungs to other organs. Secondly, we concentrated on their activities, slow walking, fast walking and climbing steps. The patients were categorised based on their oxygen saturation levels. We have categorised them into five categories from zero to four,” said Dr S Padma.
Dr P Vasanthamani, Dean, Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital said, “People in zero and one category are almost normal, and people in category two were moderate, but three and four category were severe. The rehabilitation programme was designed according to their oxygen saturation levels and other conditions.” Two-third of our patients who enrolled for study are outpatients and one-third are inpatients, said Dr Padma Rani.
The patients who were treated at the hospital and discharged without rehabilitation were assessed with a questionnaire. Based on their response the doctors assessed their post Covid condition. The people who were provided with rehabilitation programmes showed good improvement than people who were not, said Dr P Thirunavukkarasu, Head, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Programme, Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital.
“There is scientific evidence that intervention can help people affected with lung infection due to Covid-19 get back to normal life faster. The hospital started the study in September. Majority of them took three to four months to get back to normal,” said Dr Thirunavukkarasu. After such cases, the Health Department launched post-covid clinics in government medical college hospitals including the Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital to follow up discharge patients and also to treat them for their complications.