Determination of the Effects of Prone Position on Oxygenation in Patients with Acute Respiratory Failure Under Mechanical Ventilation in ICU

Introduction: Patients under mechanical ventilation are usually in the supine position due to various arterial/venous tubes attached to them. Although many studies emphasize the advantages of prone position for oxygenation, some studies enumerate its disadvantages. Objective: The aim of the present research was to determine the effect of prone position on oxygenation of patients with Acute Respiratory Failure (ARF) under mechanical ventilation in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Methods: The present study is a single-group clinical trial (pretest-posttest), which was performed in 2017 in Ahvaz, Iran. The population of the study included 58 patients with ARF under Mechanical Ventilation (MV) in ICU in the Golestan Hospital of Ahvaz City. Patients were asked to lie in a supine position for 2 hours, and their physiological signs were measured twice at one-hour intervals. Arterial Blood Gas was tested at the end of the second interval. Afterward, they lied in the prone position and their physiological signs were again measured twice at one-hour intervals and Arterial Blood Gas (ABG) was tested at the end of the second interval. Collected data were statically analyzed by SPSS v.22. Findings: The prone position had a significant relation to Oxygen Arterial Blood (Sao(2)) and Pressure of Arterial Oxygen (pao(2)), (p-value<0.05). Also, on days one and two, there was no significant relationship between the prone position and physiological signs; however, this relation was significant on day three (p-value<0.05). Conclusions: Results showed that the prone position improves sao(2) and pao(2) without adverse effect on physiological signs.