Meta- analysis revealed few clinical ly relevant and statistically significant benefits of " add-on " therapies on exercise performance compared with exercise training .
The aim of this review was to identify the effectiveness of therapies added on to conventional exercise training to maximise exercise capacity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ( COPD ) .
Target-flow inspiratory muscle training during pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with COPD.
The effects of additional target-flow inspiratory muscle training ( TF-IMT ) on the performance of the inspiratory muscles , on general exercise capacity , and on psychologic parameters during a pulmonary rehabilitation program ( PR ) were studied in 40 patients with COPD selected for ventilatory limitation during exercise . The mean age of the patients was 59 years , and the mean FEV1 was approximately 50 percent of predicted . All patients participated in a ten-week PR program . They were r and omized to receive either additional TF-IMT ( PR + IMT ) or not ( PR ) . The TF-IMT was performed by means of a target-flow resistive device ; the generated mouth pressure and the duration of inspiration and of the respiratory cycle were imposed . After the training period , maximal inspiratory mouth pressure and EMG-fatigability of the diaphragm were significantly better in the PR + IMT group than in the PR group . Maximal work load and psychologic symptoms increased to the same extent in both groups . The 12-minute walking distance also increased in both groups , but it increased significantly more in the PR + IMT group than in the PR group . We believe that additional TF-IMT during PR in a selected group of patients with COPD who have ventilatory limitation has an extra beneficial effect on the performance of the inspiratory muscles and on exercise performance
Meta- analysis revealed few clinical ly relevant and statistically significant benefits of " add-on " therapies on exercise performance compared with exercise training .
The aim of this review was to identify the effectiveness of therapies added on to conventional exercise training to maximise exercise capacity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ( COPD ) .