Care Bundles to Improve Hemoperfusion Performance in Patients with Severe COVID-19: A Retrospective Study.

Background/Objectives: Hemoperfusion (HP) is employed to modulate cytokine storms in severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients, requiring careful attention for success and safety. Therefore, we investigated whether our care bundles could enhance HP performance. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study on adult patients (≥20 years old) with severe COVID-19 pneumonia. In the first wave (Phase I), we identified HP-related issues and addressed them with care bundles in the second wave (Phase II). The care bundles included early temperature control, precise hemodynamic monitoring, and clot prevention measures for the HP membrane. The HP success rate and associated adverse events (AEs) were assessed between the two phases. Results: The study included 60 HP (HA330) sessions from 27 cases (Phase I: 21 sessions from 9 cases; Phase II: 39 sessions from 18 cases). Patient characteristics and treatments for COVID-19 were similar, except for baseline body temperature (BT) and heart rate (HR). Phase II showed a higher success rate (67% vs. 89%, p = 0.19), although it did not reach statistical significance. Phase I recorded a significantly higher frequency of AEs (3 [IQR 1, 4] events/case vs. 1 [IQR 0, 2] events/case, p = 0.014). After implementing the care bundles, hypothermia significantly decreased (78% vs. 33%, p = 0.037), with an adjusted odds ratio of 0.15; 95% CI 0.02-0.95, p = 0.044 for baseline BT. Conclusions: Further exploration with a larger sample size is required to establish the advantages of care bundles. However, the bundles' implementation has significantly improved hypothermia prevention.