Objectives: To analyze the effectiveness of Tocilizumab in moderate to severe Covid-19 participants on the basis of predefined assessment criteria.~Study Settings: Single center, Fatima Memorial Hospital, Lahore.~Study Design: Quasi experimental.~Duration of Study: From 12th May, 2020 to 12th July, 2020.~Participants & Methods: Sample size and technique: Sample size was 93; 33 participants were kept in experimental group, given Tocilizumab, 8mg/kg intravenously or 162 mg subcutaneously and rest of the 60 participants were given corticosteroids, methylprednisolone 80 mg/day. Consecutive sampling.~Failure of therapy was labeled when participants were intubated or died, and the endpoints were failure-free survival which was the primary endpoint and overall survival secondary at the time of discharge.
Investigators conducted this study to see the effectiveness of Tocilizumab in COVID-19 participants who were in cytokine release syndrome and there was also a control group who received steroids(RECOVERY TRIAL wasn't published or available at that time) this study was conducted in the early days of 1st wave of COVID in our country Pakistan so it was need of the day to develop some national guidelines on the basis of multiple studies' results from Pakistan.