Objective: To investigate the effect of mini-pulse methylprednisolone in the treatment of patients with COVID-19 hospitalized in the intensive care units (ICU).
Methods: This is a single-blind parallel non-randomized clinical trial that will be carried out on 60 hospitalized COVID-19 patients and conducted between February 2020 and December 2020 in Ardabil City Hospital, Ardabil, Iran. The t-test and chi-square test were used to compare the results of the two groups. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26 software.
Results: The mean (±SD) age of patients was 57.53 ± 13.71 years. Thirty-five patients (58.3%) were male and 25 (14.7%) were female. Twenty-eight patients had fever. During admission, the mean (±SD) of the oxygen saturation was 80.73 ± 8.31. No significant relationship was observed between the study variables in the two groups at baseline.
Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that in patients treated with methylprednisolone, blood oxygen saturation increased and heart rate and breathing rate decreased significantly. Also, mini-pulse treatment with methylprednisolone significantly reduced the number of days of hospitalization and the incidence of mortality.
Keywords: COVID‐19; intensive care unit; methylprednisolone.
© 2024 The Author(s). Immunity, Inflammation and Disease published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.