The usefulness of respiratory physiotherapy for the prevention of pulmonary complications after cardiac surgery remains unproved .
OBJECTIVE To assess whether respiratory physiotherapy prevents pulmonary complications after cardiac surgery .
Chest physiotherapy after coronary artery bypass graft surgery--a comparison of three different deep breathing techniques.
The effectiveness of three deep breathing techniques was evaluated in 98 male patients after coronary artery bypass graft surgery in a r and omized trial . The techniques examined were deep breathing with a blow bottle-device , an inspiratory resistance-positive expiratory pressure mask ( IR-PEP ) and performed with no mechanical device .  Pulmonary function and roentgenological changes were evaluated . Four days post-operatively there were significantly decreased vital capacity , inspiratory capacity , forced expiratory volume in 1 second , functional residual capacity , total lung capacity and single-breath carbon monoxide diffusing capacity in all three groups ( p < 0.0001 ) . No major differences between the treatment groups were found , but the impairment in pulmonary function tended to be less marked using the blow bottle technique . The Blow bottle group had significantly less reduction in total lung capacity ( p = 0.01 ) compared to the Deep breathing group , while the IR-PEP group did not significantly differ from the other two groups
The usefulness of respiratory physiotherapy for the prevention of pulmonary complications after cardiac surgery remains unproved .
OBJECTIVE To assess whether respiratory physiotherapy prevents pulmonary complications after cardiac surgery .