Immediate Effectiveness of Chest Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) Technique on Hemodynamic Status in COVID-19 Patients: An Original Research

Introduction COVID-19 is an infectious illness that first appeared in Wuhan, China in December 2019, and subsequently spread over the entire world. Those who were affected suffered from fever, cough, weakness, and breathlessness, along with the probability of developing pneumonia which sometimes leads to respiratory failure. The older population with co-morbidities was at higher risk. Methods In this experimental study, 59 subjects with COVID-19 were included according to pre-decided inclusion and exclusion criteria. Pre-vitals before the treatment were noted such as heart rate, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturation (SPO(2)), and then the chest proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) technique was given as a treatment regime, and its immediate effect was calculated. Post-vitals were noted immediately after the treatment session. The statistical analysis was made using the student's paired t-test. Results We found a mean difference of 9.45±5.27 in heart rate before and after the intervention provided which is suggestive of a statistically significant increase within normal limits. Also, the mean value of respiratory rate immediately after the intervention was shown as 22.91 and pre-intervention was 19.18 with a mean difference of 2.93±3.95, showing a statistically significant increase in respiratory rate. Additionally, the mean value of SPO2 immediately after the intervention was shown as 92.76 and pre-intervention was 94.64 and had a mean difference of 1.88±1.67 suggestive of high improvement in oxygen saturation immediately after the intervention. Conclusion The present study concludes from the available statistical analysis that chest PNF techniques such as intercostal stretch and anterior basal stretch lift have an immediate impact on improvement in oxygen saturation in COVID-19 patients and can be incorporated as an inpatient treatment regime in the rehabilitation protocol.