: the act or practice of placing a patient and especially one in respiratory distress in the prone (see prone entry 1 sense 2a) position with the chest and stomach facing downward to increase blood oxygenation
During the chaotic days of March and April, emergency room doctors were quick to intubate patients with dangerously low oxygen levels. They subsequently discovered other ways to improve outcomes, including placing patients on their stomachs, a protocol known as proning that helps improve lung function.—
Andrew Jacobs
Andrew Jacobs… doctors and nurses also have more experience handling coronavirus patients than they did months earlier in the pandemic, with techniques like proning and better therapeutics at the ready for severe hospitalized cases.—Michael McGough
Michael McGoughproning
2 of 2present participle of prone entry 2
Examples of proning in a Sentence
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Andrew Joseph, STAT, 23 Nov. 2020
Flip patients over from their backs to their stomachs — a procedure called proning that takes pressure off the lungs, which lie closer to the back.
—Lauran Neergaard and Nicole Winfield, Star Tribune, 1 Aug. 2020
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Noun
Supplemental oxygen and proning can keep patients’ oxygen levels up until their bodies are able to fend off the infection.
—Andrew Joseph, STAT, 23 Nov. 2020
Flip patients over from their backs to their stomachs — a procedure called proning that takes pressure off the lungs, which lie closer to the back.
—Lauran Neergaard and Nicole Winfield, Star Tribune, 1 Aug. 2020
Dictionary Entries Near proning
Cite this Entry
“Proning.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/proning. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
proning
1 of 2 noun
pron·ing
ˈprō-niŋ 
: the act or practice of placing a patient and especially one in respiratory distress in the prone position with the chest and stomach facing downward to increase blood oxygenation
During the chaotic days of March and April, emergency room doctors were quick to intubate patients with dangerously low oxygen levels. They subsequently discovered other ways to improve outcomes, including placing patients on their stomachs, a protocol known as proning that helps improve lung function.—Andrew Jacobs, The New York Times
Andrew Jacobs, The New York TimesAfter just five minutes of proning, sat levels rose to a near-normal mean of 94%. And in the end, about three-quarters of the patients never had to be put on a ventilator.—Alan Mozes, HealthDay
Alan Mozes, HealthDayproning
2 of 2present participle of prone entry 2
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