Chest physiotherapy

In adults and teenagers, airway clearance physiotherapy techniques (ACPT) are various and numerous. However, they for still awaiting scientific validation. Among ACPTs, Slow Expiration with the Glottis Opened in the Lateral Posture (ELTGOL), Autogenic Drainage (DA), and Active Cycling Breathing Technique (ACBT) present a Grade B level of evidence with weak recommendations. Even though these maneuvers are widely applied, precise description of chest physiotherapy (CP) is largely absent from the scientific literature; it is difficult to standardize its implementation and reproduce the results; scientific validation and faithful execution of the techniques are consequently problematic...

BACKGROUND: Atelectasis is a condition characterized by the collapse and nonaeration of lung regions and is considered a manifestation of an underlying disease process. The goal of atelectasis treatment is the restoration of volume loss. In the range of different treatment options, chest physiotherapy is often used as a first-line approach, and some cases require bronchoscopic interventions. METHODS: In this case series, we describe a modified bronchoscopic treatment procedure using pressure-controlled bronchoscopic segmental insufflation with surfactant application...

BACKGROUND: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is one of the most deleterious diseases of the pulmonary fibrosis spectrum. Its clinical presentation includes irreversible loss of lung function, and increasing cough, dyspnea and impaired quality of life. Chest physiotherapy can improve ventilation capacity, gas exchange, dyspnea, exercise capacity and quality of life. The aim of this study was to review the evidence about chest physiotherapy in IPF, specifically meta-analyzing quality of life, exercise capacity and pulmonary function...

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE: Impalement injuries are those injuries that result from the injuring object or weapon being stuck on to the victim's body parts. Such cases occur rarely and when they do they pose a great challenge starting from transportation to anesthesia induction and surgical decision. The extremities are the commonest parts of the body where this occurs. Only a few reports of thoracic impalement injuries have been documented in the literature. CASE PRESENTATION: Here we present a case of a 25 years old male patient who presented 36 hours after sustaining an impalement injury to his left chest by a metallic spear...

BACKGROUND: There is evidence that mechanical neck pain results in respiratory dysfunction. Physiotherapy management for mechanical neck pain is well documented but the evidence regarding inclusion of breathing strategies to improve pulmonary functions in mechanical neck pain patients is scarce. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the combined effect of diaphragmatic breathing, respiratory muscles stretch gymnastics (RMSG) and conventional physiotherapy on chest expansion, pulmonary function and pain in patient with mechanical neck pain...

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of immediate chest physiotherapy (ICPT) on pulmonary function and arterial blood gases among extubated patients. METHOD: This prospective study enrolled patients aged 20-60 years who had been intubated for 48 h. They were randomly assigned to either a control or study group. The study group received ICPT by trained critical care nurses and physiotherapists, which included early mobilization, breathing exercises and airway clearance...

BACKGROUND: Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by abnormal function of the chloride ion channels and characterized by pancreatic insufficiency and chronic endobronchial airway infection. Pulmonary dysfunction is very common and could lead to a reduction in the quality of life. Airway clearance techniques (ACT) and physical exercises are introduced as one of the main components of treatment. Therefore, it will be of interest to examine the effect of aerobic exercises compared to conventional chest physiotherapy (CPT) on pulmonary function, functional capacity, sputum culture, and quality of life in patients with CF...

Various therapeutic methods are employed to facilitate the clearance of secretions accumulated in the respiratory tracts of individuals with lower respiratory tract disorders. High-frequency chest wall oscillation (HFCWO) device, designed to apply variable amplitude and frequency vibrations to the individuals' chests, stands out among these therapies. In this study, the effectiveness of this treatment method was investigated numerically using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) on the generated mucus-obstructed bronchial geometry...

Lung donation is complex and sometimes the secretion retention makes it impossible. We report a case of a patient that was screened as potential lung donor with PaO2/FiO2 ratio below range. As in viable patients, the respiratory physiotherapist applied a ventilator-based group of techniques with removal of huge amount of secretions and consequent increase in the PaO2/FiO2 ratio that allowed the inclusion of the patient as potentially lung donor. The protocol was applied until the extraction day, with successful extraction and transplantation...

INTRODUCTION: Lung ultrasound (LUS) is an emerging assessment tool for intensive care unit (ICU) therapists (physiotherapists, physical therapists and respiratory therapists) to aid pathology identification, intervention selection, clinical reasoning and as an outcome measure to assess intervention efficacy. However, the extent of LUS adoption and use by ICU therapists internationally has not been described in the literature. OBJECTIVES: This survey explored the interest in LUS amongst ICU therapists internationally...

We report a case of a 32-year-old lady who was admitted to the hospital with right-sided weakness that preceded an episode of seizure. On the day of admission, she woke up early in the morning with mild right-sided weakness and numbness. She had difficulty walking and later had a seizure, which was witnessed by her son. She had no signs of infection prior to this. She had no fever, chest or abdominal pain, or urinary symptoms. In the emergency department, she complained of left-sided chest tightness and heaviness, which lasted for a few minutes with associated tachycardia, electrocardiogram (ECG) was consistent with Brugada syndrome type 2...

Although coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery improves the life expectancy of patients with coronary artery disease, it is associated with various short and long-term complications. Early mobilization has been shown to reduce the risk of these complications. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of different early mobilization protocols on postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD), pain intensity, and length of hospital stay (LOS) in patients undergoing CABG. This three-arm parallel randomized controlled trial included 120 patients undergoing CABG surgery who were randomly assigned to Intervention A, which received a four-phase early mobilization protocol; Intervention B, which received a three-phase early mobilization protocol; and the Control group, which received routine care...

Cystic fibrosis (CF) has long posed a complex challenge to medical science. Still, the tides are turning with remarkable progress in prognosis and demographics, thanks to cutting-edge medical management and treatment breakthroughs. It affects multiple systems, necessitating a comprehensive approach to its management. This article thoroughly reviews the latest advancements in CF treatment across three key areas: respiratory care, infection prevention, and pharmacological management. In respiratory care, emphasis is placed on airway clearance therapies and nebulized saline, while infection prevention strategies encompass hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette, and environmental cleaning and disinfection...

OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that the use of mechanical insufflation-exsufflation can reduce the incidence of acute respiratory failure within the 48-hour post-extubation period in intensive care unit-acquired weakness patients. METHODS: This was a prospective randomized controlled open-label trial. Patients diagnosed with intensive care unit-acquired weakness were consecutively enrolled based on a Medical Research Council score ≤ 48/60. The patients randomly received two daily sessions; in the control group, conventional chest physiotherapy was performed, while in the intervention group, chest physiotherapy was associated with mechanical insufflation-exsufflation...

 Bleomycin is associated with pulmonary toxicity ranging from pneumonitis, pulmonary fibrosis, to fatal acute respiratory distress syndrome. Oxygen administration can potentiate or precipitate bleomycin pulmonary toxicity, and the most common setting of oxygen exposure is during anesthesia. We report here the successful management and perioperative care of a patient with documented bleomycin pulmonary toxicity who had to undergo an eight hour long retroperitoneal surgery. With proper preoperative assessment, chest physiotherapy, inhaled steroids and bronchodilators, antibiotics, operative restriction of oxygen and fluids and good postoperative care no further pulmonary insult was inflicted...

The aim of the study is to assess changes in basic somatic features and motor components of physical fitness of physiotherapy students in the years 2001-2020. Hypotheses were made about the lack of a secular trend in body height and weight, the deterioration of motor efficiency and the lack of conditioning of the examined changes by social factors. Every year, students of physiotherapy at Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (Poland) were examined in terms of height, weight, chest circumference, balance, speed, power, agility and endurance...

OBJECTIVES: Postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs) frequently occur after cardiac surgery and may lead to adverse patient outcomes. Traditional diagnostic tools such as auscultation or chest x-ray have inferior diagnostic accuracy compared to the gold standard (chest computed tomography). Lung ultrasound (LUS) is an emerging area of research combating these issues. However, no review has employed a formal search strategy to examine the role of LUS in identifying the specific PPCs of atelectasis, consolidation, and/or pneumonia or investigated the ability of LUS to predict these complications in this cohort...

BACKGROUND: One of the main features of COVID-19 pneumonia is hypoxemic acute respiratory failure (ARF), often requiring ventilatory support. The influence of chest physiotherapy in patients with ARF is not extensively studied. The aim of the study was to analyze the short-time effects of chest physiotherapy using a 10 cm H2 O threshold valve in patients with COVID-19 and ARF. Methods; Quasi-experimental cross-sectional study, in hospitalized patients from March to May 2020. The fractions of inspired oxygen, oxygen saturation, heart rate, respiratory rate and dyspnea were collected before and after the starting session (day 1) and after the 5th day of therapy...

[Purpose] Respiratory physiotherapy plays an important role in the management of acute respiratory disturbance; however, chest pain often impedes patients from performing respiratory physiotherapy. In this study, we investigated whether pain due to multiple rib fractures can be managed with intermittent serratus anterior fascia plane (SAP) block. [Participants and Methods] We performed intermittent SAP blocks in three consecutive patients with pain due to multiple rib fractures based on the level of pain. The level of pain and differences in expiratory/inspiratory chest expansion were evaluated before and after performing the SAP block...

BACKGROUND: Breathing pattern disorders (BPDs) and inducible laryngeal obstruction (ILO) cause similar symptoms to asthma, including dyspnea and chest tightness, with an estimated prevalence of up to one-fifth of patients with asthma. Both conditions can be comorbid with asthma, and there is evidence that they are misdiagnosed and mistreated as asthma. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore whether the symptoms of ILO and BPD were topics of discussion in a UK asthma online health community and patient experiences of diagnosis and treatment, in particular their use of reliever inhalers...