Surfactant therapy for pneumonia COVID-19 of obstetric patients

Abstract

Introduction. Pregnant women may be at increased risk for severe COVID-19 illness. Pregnant women are more likely to be hospitalized at ICU, needed the mechanical ventilation compared to nonpregnant women of childbearing age. Building on the experience of the effective use of the exogenous surfactant for influenza A/H1N1 treatment of pregnant women with COVID-19, the surfactant therapy has also been included in the treatment.The objective. To evaluate the effectiveness of surfactant therapy in the integrated treatment of severe COVID-19 pneumonia of pregnant women and postpartum women.Materials and methods. The study included 135 pregnant and postpartum women with severe COVID-19 pneumonia. All of them received antiviral, anticoagulant, anticytokine and anti-inflammatory therapy. 68 patients (main group) with an initially more severe course of the disease and a greater degree of lung damage (p = 0.026) received inhalations with Surfactant-BL, 67 patients (control group) did not receive the  surfactant therapy. Patients received Surfactant-BL through a  mesh-nebulizer at a  dose of 75 mg 2 times a day for 3–5 days.Result. Patients of the main group showed decreasing risks of requiring the noninvasive ventilation (27.9% vs. 52.2%, р = 0.014) and artificial lung ventilation (2.9% vs. 11.9%, p = 0.047), the length of stay in the intensive care unit (ICU) was reduced (10.6 vs. 13.1 inpatient days, р = 0.045). Сomplications such as pneumomediastinum and pneumothorax occurred less frequently in the surfactant therapy group (24.2% vs. 52.4%, p = 0.037) with a high extent of lung damage (CT-3–4). With early surfactant therapy in the standard oxygen therapy stage or high-flow oxygenation, gas exchange indicators were restored faster, thus avoiding mechanical ventilation and has reduced the duration of intensive care (р = 0.004) and prevented deaths.Conclusion. The use of surfactant therapy for pneumonia associated with COVID-19 in pregnant and postpartum women against the background of ongoing complex therapy helps to prevent further lung damage, reduce the mechanical ventilation risk and improve oxygenation earlier, especially with early start of surfactant therapy.