Scientific publications

Two known therapies could be useful as adjuvant therapy in critical patients infected by COVID-19. Scientific Publication

May 14, 2020 | Magazine: Revista Española de Anestesiología y Reanimación

Hernández A (1), Papadakos PJ (2), Torres A (3), González DA (4), Vives M (5), Ferrando C (6), Baeza J (7).


Abstract

Pneumonia caused by coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China, in late 2019, has been spread around the world already becoming a pandemic. Unfortunately, there is not yet a specific vaccine or effective antiviral drug for treating COVID-19.

Many of these patients deteriorate rapidly and require intubation and are mechanically ventilated, which is causing the collapse of the health system in many countries due to lack of ventilators and intensive care beds.

In this document we review two simple adjuvant therapies to administer, without side effects, and low cost that could be useful for the treatment of acute severe coronavirus infection associated with acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2). VitaminC, a potent antioxidant, has emerged as a relevant therapy due to its potential benefits when administered intravenous.

The potential effect of vitaminC in reducing inflammation in the lungs could play a key role in lung injury caused by coronavirus infection. Another potential effective therapy is ozone: it has been extensively studied and used for many years and its effectiveness has been demonstrated so far in multiples studies. Nevertheless, our goal is not to make an exhaustive review of these therapies but spread the beneficial effects themselves.

Obviously clinical trials are necessaries, but due to the potential benefit of these two therapies we highly recommended to add to the therapeutic arsenal.

CITATION Rev Esp Anestesiol Reanim. 2020 May;67(5):245-252. doi: 10.1016/j.redar.2020.03.004. Epub 2020 Apr 14.