EFFICACY OF COLCHICINE IN IMPROVING CLINICAL OUTCOMES IN PATIENTS WITH MILD TO MODERATE COVID-19 PNEUMONIA IN LAHORE: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the clinical outcomes of colchicine therapy in COVID-19 patients with mild to moderate pneumonia as compared to placebo.

Study Design: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Place & Duration of Study: Department of Medicine, Lahore General Hospital, Lahore, for six months

Methods: Initially, 66 adult patients (18–60 years old) who had mild to moderate COVID-19 pneumonia confirmed by PCR were selected by a simple random sampling method. The selected patients were divided into two equal groups: colchicine and control. The patients in the colchicine group received 0.5 mg of colchicine daily for 7 days in addition to standard care, while the control group received standard care only. The main outcomes were trends of oxygen requirement, inflammatory markers, and length of hospital stay, and clinical recovery status was defined as a major secondary outcome. The statistical analysis was done using SPSS 27.0, with p < 0.05 being considered as the threshold for statistical significance.

Results: Patients receiving colchicine required significantly less oxygen and had lower CRP, ferritin, and D-dimer levels compared to the control group (p < 0.001 for all). Median hospital stay was remarkably shorter in the colchicine group (5.6 vs 14.2 days, p < 0.001). All colchicine-treated patients experienced complete clinical recovery, whereas only 51.5% of patients in the control group did.

Conclusion: Colchicine, in addition to standard therapy, significantly improved clinical outcomes and also reduced inflammatory burden, decreased oxygen requirements, and shortened duration of hospital stay in patients suffering from mild to moderate COVID-19 pneumonia.