Follow-up clinics see post-recovery diabetes, lung issues

About 500 persons who recovered from the infection visited the clinic at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) since its launch on August 19. A regular issue among them is pre-diabetes or new diabetes, said Dr E Theranirajan, dean, RGGGH.

 “Some of the patients who did not have diabetes before COVID-19 are now seeing higher sugar level, and their clinical parameters shows that they are diabetic. However, the exact cause for it is yet to be established,” Dr Theranirajan added.

 The most common complaint is breathing difficulty. Breathlessness is a problem for both symptomatic and asymptomatic cases even after the recovery and thus, requires follow up.

 Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital and Tamil Nadu Multi Super Specialty General Hospital at Omandurar have also set up follow-up clinics. At least 60 per cent of the patients visiting these clinics are aged above 40.

 “The recovered patients usually have lung involvement problems that affects its functioning. Though their clinical parameters seem to be normal, many have breathing problem. Cardiac issues are also seen in most of the middle-aged and elderly patients,” said Dr M Ramesh, nodal officer at Omandurar Government General Hospital. The patients visiting the clinic at KMCH undergo saturation level checks and a six-minute walk test to assess lung capacity.

 “General complaints among asymptomatic patients are psychological issues, throat issues and nausea later. Patients are given oxygen concentrators and trained to use them to normalise breathing process even at home. Among symptomatic cases, patients with more than 50 per cent lung involvement have less oxygen carrying capacity. We are also reassessing patients to ensure that they do not have any other complication after recovery,” said Dr P Vasanthamani, dean, KMCH.