Mild Water-filtered Infrared-A Whole-body Hyperthermia in Patients With Post-COVID Syndrome (HyPoCo)

The hyperthermia treatment is carried out in a cycle of two treatments per week, with at least one day in between, over a period of two weeks, according to the manufacturer's instructions. For better tolerability, the application takes place under administration of 10L/min oxygen. According to the guidelines, the rectal (possibly vaginal) temperature (as body core temperature), heart rate and oxygen saturation (Sp02) are continuously determined during the hyperthermia treatment. During the treatment, continuous supervision by trained personnel is guaranteed, and a doctor is on call.

Within the application, patients in the Sham group will undergo a hyperthermia application with virtually no overheating. To achieve this, the patients are positioned on the hyperthermia device in the same way as the intervention group. An insulating foil applied beforehand prevents direct irradiation with water-filtered infrared-A radiation. This prevents an increase in temperature. Due to the insulating blanket and the natural heat from the device and body, patients in the Sham group experience a gentle warmth that cannot be compared with regular whole-body hyperthermia and an increase in core body temperature of around 1.5°C. The number of treatments, the lighting conditions and procedures including 10L/min oxygen supply, is equal to the treatments in the intervention group.