Applying vibroacoustic therapy in the treatment of patients with COVID-associated pneumonia

Introduction. Pneumonia is a group of acute infectious (mainly bacterial) diseases of various etiology, pathogenesis, and morphological characteristics characterized by focal lesions of the respiratory tract of the lungs with the obligatory presence of intraalveolar exudation. Currently, a wide range of not only pharmacological, but also physiotherapeutic methods of treatment is available. Vibroacoustic therapy is also used to facilitate the discharge of bronchopulmonary secretions.

Aim. To evaluate the effectiveness of vibroacoustic pulmonary therapy using the BARK VibroLUNG device (manufactured by BARK Technology, Kazakhstan) in patients with COVID-19.

Materials and methods. 70 patients with PCR-confirmed positive COVID-19 infection were included in the study. The patients were divided into 2 groups, which statistically did not differ from each other. Group 1 (n = 35) underwent vibroacoustic pulmonary therapy (VALT) in combination with basic treatment. Group 2 (n = 35) received only basic treatment. VALT was performed for 7 days, 2 sessions per day for 20 minutes.

Results. Against the background of complex therapy in combination with the course of VALT, patients in the study group showed a statistically significant decrease in the duration of hospitalization to 19 (12–29) days, as opposed to 27 (24–34) days (p = 0.003) in the control group. When comparing the changes in the indicators of the surviving patients of the study group, a positive dynamics of the main indicators against the background of VALT was obtained: ∆VAS -2 (-3; -1), р = 0.000; ∆SpO2– 6 (2; 7), р = 0.002; ∆PaO2–13 (2; 19), р= 0.001 in comparison with the dynamics of similar indicators of the control group.

Conclusions. The results have shown the effectiveness of vibroacoustic therapy in the treatment of patients with coronavirus pneumonia. This method can optimize healthcare costs for the treatment of COVID-19, as there is a significant decrease of duration of hospitalization.

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