Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in critically unwell patients with type 1 respiratory failure. In an attempt to reduce the number of patients requiring mechanical ventilation, prone positioning (PP) of non-intubated patients has been added to many hospital guidelines around the world. We set out to conduct a systematic review of the evidence relating to PP in the non-intubated patient with type 1 respiratory failure secondary to COVID-19 and other causes. ⋯ No high-quality randomised controlled trials were found and thus evidence in relation to PP as a treatment for non-intubated patients with type 1 respiratory failure is lacking.