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Nebulized Therapeutics for COVID-19 Pneumonia in Critical Care

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Annual Update in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine 2022

Part of the book series: Annual Update in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine ((AUICEM))

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is caused by aerosol transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). The disease primarily causes pneumonia of varying severity resulting in respiratory failure. COVID-19 pneumonia patients require prolonged hospitalization and often critical care support including mechanical ventilation. Despite extensive research, current formulations and dose regimens of systemic therapeutics assessed for use in COVID-19 are either associated with adverse effects or are ineffective, which in part might be explained by inadequate lung penetration. Consequently, COVID-19 pneumonia is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Despite effective vaccine development, the disease is likely to remain prevalent due to logistics and viral mutations. Hence, there is an urgent need for safe and effective COVID-19 therapies. Nebulized drug delivery of existing formulations could potentially achieve higher local drug concentrations and improve clinical outcomes with limited systemic adverse effects. Various nebulized therapeutic agents are currently undergoing clinical trials. Barriers affecting safe and effective nebulized therapies should be addressed simultaneously to provide guidelines for nebulized therapeutics for COVID-19 pneumonia in critical care. We review the technical aspects of nebulization therapy and consider which medications are likely to be most suitable for delivery by this route.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Queensland Centre of Clinical Research, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia

    J. Dhanani

  2. Queensland University of Technology, School of Nursing, Brisbane City, QLD, Australia

    J. Dhanani

  3. Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Herston, QLD, Australia

    J. Dhanani & M. C. Reade

  4. School of Medicine, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia

    M. C. Reade

  5. Joint Health Command, Australian Defence Force, Canberra, ACT, Australia

    M. C. Reade

Authors
  1. J. Dhanani
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  2. M. C. Reade
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Correspondence to J. Dhanani .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Intensive Care, Erasme University Hospital Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

    Jean-Louis Vincent

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Dhanani, J., Reade, M.C. (2022). Nebulized Therapeutics for COVID-19 Pneumonia in Critical Care. In: Vincent, JL. (eds) Annual Update in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine 2022. Annual Update in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-93433-0_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-93433-0_7

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-93432-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-93433-0

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