The effectiveness of physiotherapy breathing exercises after major chest surgery

Plain English Summary

Background and study aims
Patients receive routine chest physiotherapy following major chest surgery in order to prevent the development of chest infections, which lead to higher costs of hospital care and are the main cause of death following this type of surgery. The physiotherapy usually includes deep breathing exercises, which are thought to be necessary as areas of the lungs may be collapsed after surgery, and these exercises at regular intervals daily are thought to help re-open the lung. Deep breathing exercises can be performed through a plastic device which measures the size of the breath, known as an incentive spirometer. This is thought to improve the effectiveness of the exercises by motivating the patient to take the largest deep breaths possible.
Routine provision of physiotherapy following major chest surgery has long been recommended, and has recently been confirmed as beneficial following a large study which found a marked reduction in chest infection in patients who received treatment. Further research to identify who might most benefit from physiotherapy and exactly what interventions (for example incentive spirometry) are most beneficial is, however, still needed.
There is little quality evidence to support the widespread use of incentive spirometry following chest surgery; only two small studies have examined this treatment but demonstrated no benefit, perhaps because of the quality of the studies. Our aim was to examine the effectiveness of incentive spirometry as compared to deep breathing exercises in patients undergoing major chest and lung surgery at the regional thoracic surgery department at Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham (UK).
We also aimed to observe its effectiveness in patients specifically at a high risk of chest infection after surgery.

Who can participate?
Adults (aged 18 and over) undergoing planned major chest surgery involving the lungs.

What does the study involve?
Participants were randomly allocated to either the control group or the intervention group. Control group patients were asked to perform 'regular' deep breathing exercises (emphasising an active inspiration with a breath hold before a passive expiration), and the intervention group patients were asked to perform incentive spirometry, both starting the day after surgery.
The patients were asked to repeat their breathing exercises ten times at the daily physiotherapy session, and encouraged to do this hourly on an independent basis. Treatment also included coughing, walking and shoulder exercises as per current UK practice. The patients continued to receive their treatment until hospital discharge. If any patient's condition required more treatment than described, it was given (for example assistance to clear mucus from the chest). Whilst the patients were in hospital they were also asked to wear a small plastic monitor attached to their upper arm with a velcro strap; this measured the amount of physical activity they were able to do from the day after surgery to the fourth day (this was similar to a simple pedometer).
To determine the success of the two treatments, the lung function of each patient was measured whilst still in hospital (with a simple blowing test), four days following surgery. This was compared to their pre-surgery lung function. If either group had a larger loss of lung function on the fourth day, it represented worse/slower recovery, and therefore lack of treatment benefit. The rate of chest infections and the length of hospital stay were also compared.

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
There have been no recorded complications of the breathing exercises to be examined.
Reasons not to give incentive spirometry and adverse side effects are not widely documented, but it should not generally be used if the patient cannot be instructed properly, if patient co-operation is absent, or if the patient is unable to deep breathe. Possible complications could include over breathing (in the short term during treatment), pulmonary embolus, fatigue and airway tightening in asthmatics. The physiotherapists applying both regimens were aware to terminate treatment and take appropriate action if any such complications arose. Repetitions of the breathing exercises were performed with rests as necessary to avoid over breathing or fatigue. The treatments in this project were considered by an Ethics Committee and deemed suitable. As neither breathing exercise had yet been shown to be better than the other, no benefits of being allocated to either group were known. The information gained from this study was aimed to identify how best to treat patients in the future for their benefit.

Where is the study run from?
Birmingham Heartlands Hospital (UK).

When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
The study started in October 2008 and finished in October 2010.

Who is funding the study?
West Midlands Strategic Health Authority & Birmingham Heartlands Hospital (UK).

Who is the main contact?
Paula Agostini
paula.agostini@heartofengland.nhs.uk

Contact information

Study information

Eligibility

Locations

Countries of recruitment

• England
• United Kingdom

Study participating centre

Sponsor information

Funders

Funder type

Government

Results and Publications

Study outputs