Covid-19: 36-year-old woman recovers after 90 days of hospitalisation in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: In one of its kind recovery, a 36-year-old woman from Hyderabad affected with severe Covid pneumonia recovered after 90 days of hospitalization of which 41 days were on ECMO support.
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support is the last line of treatment used for critical patients when all other treatments fail and multiple organs start to develop problems. By substituting for the function of vital organs in the body, ECMO allows the organs to rest and recuperate. It is used for managing the respiratory/renal complications/ multi-organ failure.
Her remarkable recovery over 90 days period from May 11 when she landed at the hospital from being completely unconscious for nearly two months, to going on ventilator support, undergoing tracheostomy, dialysis, physiotherapy and finally on a 1 litre oxygen support is a rare one.
While initially doctors tried to manage the condition with high flow oxygen support but she could not tolerate it and was put on the ventilator. Without any improvement, she had to be put on ECMO for one and half month. “During this time she had lots of fluctuations in her conditions, and on some occasions, we felt she will not survive. Multiple attempts were made to wean her off ECMO but they failed and over a period of time, her kidneys also got affected requiring dialysis support. Considering the condition in which the patient arrived and the long duration of ECMO support, it is really amazing to see the patient recovering to a full cycle. Patients on long ECMO support do not come out so easily,” said Dr Ganshyam M Jagathkar, Director - Critical Care, Medicover Hospital.
She had developed severe weakness of her muscles which made it very difficult for her to even stand or sit. Intense physiotherapy was started from an early period which helped her to regain her power to some extent. “The tracheostomy tube was also removed and she was able to speak and eat on her own. Presently she is on 1 liter of oxygen support, awake, cheerful, eating, talking. But still weak and needs rehabilitation through extensive Physiotherapy and good nutritive support,” added the doctor.