TY - JOUR
T1 - Airway clearance with expiratory flow accelerator technology
T2 - Effectiveness of the “free aspire” device in patients with severe copd
AU - Patrizio, Giorgia
AU - D’Andria, Michele
AU - D’Abrosca, Francesco
AU - Cabiaglia, Antonella
AU - Tanzi, Fabio
AU - Garuti, Giancarlo
AU - Nicolini, Antonello
PY - 2019/10
Y1 - 2019/10
N2 - OBJECTIVES: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with a higher risk of pulmonary infections. This risk not only negatively affects patients’ quality of life but also increases social and health costs. Hence, there is a need for an effective rehabilitative treatment including airway clearance. The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the efficacy of a new tool for bronchial clearance based on expiratory flow accelerator (EFA) technology compared with positive expiratory pressure (PEP) treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty stable patients with COPD, Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease 3–4 stage, were enrolled and allocated to treatment with EFA or Bubble-PEP (BP) for 20 days during a pulmonary rehabilitation program. At baseline and the end of treatment, the following parameters were measured: Arterial blood gases (ABG); respiratory function, including peak cough expiratory flow (PCEF), maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP), and maximal expiratory pressure exercise capacity using the 6-minute walk test (6MWT), dyspnea using the Medical Research Council scale, and quality of life using the St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire. RESULTS: Expiratory flow accelerator showed a significant pre- and post-improvement in ABG and a significantly greater improvement than BP in PCEF, MIP, and 6MWT post-treatment. CONCLUSION: Expiratory flow accelerator is a valid device compared with BP as an adjunctive therapy for the treatment of patients with severe COPD.
AB - OBJECTIVES: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with a higher risk of pulmonary infections. This risk not only negatively affects patients’ quality of life but also increases social and health costs. Hence, there is a need for an effective rehabilitative treatment including airway clearance. The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the efficacy of a new tool for bronchial clearance based on expiratory flow accelerator (EFA) technology compared with positive expiratory pressure (PEP) treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty stable patients with COPD, Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease 3–4 stage, were enrolled and allocated to treatment with EFA or Bubble-PEP (BP) for 20 days during a pulmonary rehabilitation program. At baseline and the end of treatment, the following parameters were measured: Arterial blood gases (ABG); respiratory function, including peak cough expiratory flow (PCEF), maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP), and maximal expiratory pressure exercise capacity using the 6-minute walk test (6MWT), dyspnea using the Medical Research Council scale, and quality of life using the St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire. RESULTS: Expiratory flow accelerator showed a significant pre- and post-improvement in ABG and a significantly greater improvement than BP in PCEF, MIP, and 6MWT post-treatment. CONCLUSION: Expiratory flow accelerator is a valid device compared with BP as an adjunctive therapy for the treatment of patients with severe COPD.
KW - Chest physiotherapy
KW - Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
KW - Expiratory flow accelerator technology
KW - Positive expiratory pressure
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U2 - 10.5152/TurkThoracJ.2018.18053
DO - 10.5152/TurkThoracJ.2018.18053
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85074629048
VL - 20
SP - 209
EP - 215
JO - Turkish Thoracic Journal
JF - Turkish Thoracic Journal
SN - 2149-2530
IS - 4
ER -