Pulmonary physiotherapy in patients with bronchial asthma.

ABSTRACT

In the present study we investigated the effectiveness of a 3-month breathing exercise program in patients with mild-to-moderate asthma, as assessed from spirometric indices. The study group consisted of 28 asthma patients (mean age of 43 years). The physiotherapy program consisted of 45-min exercise sessions, performed twice a week for 3 months. We measured the flow-volume indices (FEV(1), FVC, PEF, MEF(50)) before and after the exercise sessions at the beginning and end of the physiotherapy program. In addition, the patients measured their personal best peak expiratory flow (PEF). We found no significant changes in spirometric indices before and after an exercise session either at the beginning or end of the physiotherapy program, although there was a tendency for lower values after the exercise sessions at both beginning and end of the physiotherapy program. There was a significant decrease in PEF after an exercise session at the beginning of the physiotherapy program; this decrease lost significance after completion of the physiotherapy program. However, PEF values were greater both before and after the exercise sessions at the end of the physiotherapy program compared with the corresponding sessions before the program. We conclude that the breathing exercise program employed in the study failed to appreciably improve lung function in asthmatic patients. However, there was no asthma exacerbations observed during the conduction of breathing exercise program, which underscores the need for pulmonary rehabilitation in asthma treatment.