Improvement in activities of daily living and exercise tolerance in a patient with severe COVID-19 and femoral nerve palsy after Kaifukuki rehabilitation: a case report.

Unlabelled: Yashiro T, Wada Y, Sugiyama M, Tateno H, Kasai F, Kawate N. Improvement in activities of daily living and exercise tolerance in a patient with severe COVID-19 and femoral nerve palsy after Kaifukuki rehabilitation: a case report. Jpn J Compr Rehabil Sci 2021; 12: 53-57.

Introduction: There have been many reports on rehabilitation techniques for patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, few have reported on the use of Kaifukuki rehabilitation for severe COVID-19 cases with complications of femoral nerve palsy after veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV-ECMO) management.

Case: A male in his 50s who underwent VV-ECMO management during the course of his treatment for COVID-19 developed femoral nerve palsy due to iliopsoas hematoma. From day 120 after admission, he underwent Kaifukuki rehabilitation focusing on exercise therapy, activities of daily living (ADL) training, and respiratory rehabilitation to improve ADL and exercise tolerance. His respiratory function, functional independence measure scores, and 6-min walk test results improved. The patient was discharged on day 196. His recovery progressed without any further deterioration.

Discussion: Kaifukuki rehabilitation, focusing on respiratory rehabilitation, contributed to the improvement of ADL and exercise tolerance in a patient with severe COVID-19. In addition, attention should be paid to femoral nerve palsy after VV-ECMO.