Respiratory and functional repercussions and post-COVID-19 pulmonary rehabilitation programs: an integrative review

Abstract

INTRODUCTION SARS-COV2 is known as a syndrome causing substantial pulmonary disease, but there are other extrapulmonary manifestations. Currently, a new disease is being defined, the chronic post-COVID syndrome, which is characterized by long-term symptoms persisting beyond 12 weeks after the onset of symptoms. OBJECTIVE To analyze the main repercussions in patients affected by COVID-19 after the acute period of the disease and which interventions and protocols for pulmonary rehabilitation of these patients. METHODOLOGY This is an Integrative Literature Review where the guiding question of the study was "What are the post-COVID-19 repercussions and the importance of physical therapy in this period?". The literature search was conducted from March to April 2021. The Embase and Web of Science platforms were used. After applying the search filters and reading the articles, 9 studies were included. RESULTS We identified 3 categories of subjects: 1) Main Repercussions: 4 studies observed a relationship with the length of hospital stay, ventilatory support, associated comorbidities and severity of the disease; 2) Rehabilitation Programs: 4 studies used scales to evaluate the effectiveness of pulmonary rehabilitation programs, proving their importance and effectiveness; 3) Telecare: 1 study applied evaluation scales after hospital discharge, without interventions. CONCLUSION With this study it was possible to observe the main repercussions after infection by COVID-19, the importance of a well-planned and individualized rehabilitation program performed by a trained professional, and the need to treat the patient in an integral way.