Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to spread around the world. In April 2021, Japan experienced a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections, which led to the breakdown of the medical system. Osaka, Japan, was particularly affected, with many severe cases and the highest number of COVID-19-associated deaths in Japan. Herein, we present a patient with severe COVID-19 infection who received prolonged midazolam (MDZ) treatment since propofol was not available due to shortage of medical resources. Moreover, the duration of mechanical ventilation was extended due to the development of a pneumothorax. When MDZ tapering was initiated, tachypnea was observed, which resulted failure in ventilator weaning. However, the use of continuous morphine infusion led a successful weaning off the ventilator. We suggest that the administration of morphine may allow for a smoother weaning process for some patients with severe COVID-19 infection.

Details

Title
Successful weaning of a patient with severe COVID-19 pneumonia under prolonged midazolam sedation using morphine
Author
Kunimasa, Kei 1 ; Ohashi, Yoshifumi 2 ; Okawa, Megumi 2 ; Iida, Hiroshi 2 ; Sonoda, Shunji 2 ; Hiuge, Yuki 2 ; Hachimine, Masaaki 2 ; Yamamura, Ai 2 ; Kawamura, Takahisa 1 ; Inoue, Takako 1 ; Tamiya, Motohiro 1 ; Kuhara, Hanako 1 ; Nishino, Kazumi 1 ; Nakamoto, Naoki 3 ; Kumagai, Toru 1 ; Tanigami, Hironobu 2 

 Department of Thoracic Oncology , Osaka International Cancer Institute, Osaka, Japan 
 Department of Anesthesiology , Osaka International Cancer Institute, Osaka, Japan 
 Department of Emergency and Critical Care , Osaka General Medical Center, Osaka, Japan 
Publication year
2022
Publication date
Jun 2022
Publisher
Oxford University Press
e-ISSN
20538855
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3171396218
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: [email protected]. This work is published under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.