Pneumothorax in COVID-19 patients on non-invasive ventilation: a case series

Abstract

COVID-19 is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and the disease mainly affects the lungs. A rare complication reported in these patients has been pneumothorax, whether spontaneous or iatrogenic in ventilated patients. Sudden desaturation or acute deterioration in clinical conditions should immediately raise a suspicion of pneumothorax, and the clinicians must take appropriate measures without any delay.

We present a series of 7 cases of COVID-19 admitted to our ICU who developed primary spontaneous pneumothorax. All these patients were on non-invasive ventilation (NIV). They did not have any history of underlying lung disease before the existing ailment, and all of them were non-smokers.

Abbreviations: SARS-CoV-2 - acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2; NIV - non-invasive ventilation; ARDS - acute respiratory distress syndrome; COVID – coronavirus disease; RT-PCR - Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction test; ROSC - return of spontaneous circulation; Pplateau – plateu pressure

Key words: COVID-19; Pneumothorax; Non-invasive ventilation; NIV

Citation: Yadav I, Lakhanpal M, Aggarwal A, Kumar R. Pneumothorax in COVID-19 patients on non-invasive ventilation: a case series. Anaesth. pain intensive care 2022;26(3):410-415. DOI: 10.35975/apic.v26i3.1905

Received: April 19, 2022; Reviewed: April 22, 2022; Accepted: April 24, 2022