Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Friday virtually inaugurated “MIOT Rehab Centre”.
Health Minister Ma. Subramanian and Minister for Rural Industries T.M. Anbarasan visited the centre at MIOT International.
The centre will provide pulmonary rehabilitation, neuro rehabilitation, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and swallow therapy, neuro modulation, counselling, cancer rehabilitation, acute and chronic pain management and cardiac rehabilitation, according to a release.
Prithvi Mohandas, managing director of MIOT International, said a structured rehabilitation programme would help in quick recovery of patients. A rehabilitation board had been created with 12 specialists as its members.
Srimathy Narasimhan, senior speech language pathologist and audiologist, said board would discuss and come up with a plan for patients.
Long-term bed-ridden patients, immobility due to neuro, spine and accident-related injuries, patients affected with post-COVID sequelae or other chronic respiratory disorders and those suffering from speech and swallowing defects will benefit, the release said.
Manimaran M., senior pulmonologist, said in post-COVID sequelae, extensive scarring led to reduced lung capacity and volume, thereby requiring long-term pulmonary rehabilitation.
Arun Sampath, senior pulmonologist, said in COVID-19, recovery time varied with severity of disease and availability of appropriate healthcare. “At least 87% of persons who recover from COVID-19 have at least one symptom 60 days after discharge from hospital while 35% of individuals fail to return to jobs even after three or four weeks after recovery,” he said.
He said a majority of the patients complained of low energy levels, fatigue, besides headaches, joint and muscle pain and digestive disorders. “Post-COVID, 35% patients develop pulmonary fibrosis and 47% have low lung function after recovery. Rehabilitation provides a process for recovery. It includes pulmonary rehabilitation, breathing exercises and chest physiotherapy,” he said.
Noting that rehabilitation was a continuous process to get back to normal life, Shankar Balakrishnan, interventional neurologist, said that advanced technology was used to accelerate recovery.
