2.5.2 Monitoring and follow-ups
sore throat, chest tightness, fever, Comorbid diseases, ground-glass opacity, pain, cough, loss of taste, loss of smell, shortness of breath
SORE THROAT, ENLARGEMENT, ORGANIZING PNEUMONIA, LIVER, KIDNEY, BLOOD
Throughout the study, to avoid measurement bias, all participants were closely monitored in ICU by a team of physicians trained in modern medicine and a homoeopath, as per standard COVID-19 protocol, on a day-to-day basis. The protocol included monitoring of respiration, peripheral arterial oxygen saturation and arterial blood gases (ABG), body temperature and blood pressure. Treatment details of both the arms are shown in Each participant was managed with Per Protocol approach. The dropouts were treated till we were unable to trace them for follow-ups; either due to change of ward/hospital or non-compliance towards medicines.It was observed that most cases reported to the hospital within a week of onset of symptoms in both the groups, and within four days of the diagnosis. All participants were clinically evaluated daily for symptoms like fever, cough, chest tightness or pain, shortness of breath, sore throat, loss of taste, loss of smell, flu-like symptoms, known history of Comorbid diseases. Investigations included daily recording of Complete Blood Count (CBC), C-Reactive Protein (CRP), LDH, Serum Ferritin, D-Dimer, Liver Function Tests, Kidney Function Tests, and nasopharyngeal swab and/or oropharyngeal swab for RT-PCR. However, for analysis, these were considered at baseline, 5th day, 10th day, 14th day & 28th day. Arterial blood gas analysis was done daily. These investigations were a part of the routine care of the participants. For the participants who were discharged before 28 days, these investigations were carried out through sample collection from home, as far as possible. Compliance could be maintained for RTPCR and Pulmonary Function (PF) ratio, but not for all other laboratory markers in this respect.Chest X-ray was conducted in most cases for atypical or organizing pneumonia, often with a bilateral, peripheral, and basal predominant distribution. High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scan of the chest was done in cases which mostly showed bilateral lung involvement with ground-glass opacity, crazy paving appearance, subpleural fibrotic bands, lymph nodes enlargement, pulmonary vessel dilatation and consolidation.