Prone Positioning for Severe Hypoxemia Rose Sharply During COVID-19 but Was Not Sustained Across North American ICUs

Highlights

In this 37-hospital North American retrospective cohort, prone positioning among eligible mechanically ventilated adults with persistent moderate-to-severe hypoxemia increased from 11.0% before the pandemic to 51.9% during the pandemic, then declined to 25.6% after the pandemic.

Compared with the pre-pandemic period, the adjusted odds of proning were 7.6-fold higher during the pandemic. However, pandemic-period use remained 2.7-fold higher than the post-pandemic period, indicating incomplete retention of the practice gains achieved during COVID-19.