Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., Vol 150, No. 4, 10 1994, 1154-1157.
Comparison of high frequency chest compression and conventional chest physiotherapy in hospitalized patients with cystic fibrosis
R Arens, D Gozal, KJ Omlin, J Vega, KP Boyd, TG Keens and MS Woo
Respiratory Care Department, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, CA 90027.
Clearance of bronchial secretions is essential in the management of cystic
fibrosis (CF) patients admitted for acute pulmonary exacerbation.
Conventional physiotherapy (CPT) is labor-intensive, time- consuming,
expensive, and may not be available as frequently as desired during
hospitalization. High frequency chest compression (HFCC), which uses an
inflatable vest linked to an air-pulse delivery system, may offer an
attractive alternative. To study this, we prospectively studied 50 CF
patients admitted for acute pulmonary exacerbation who were randomly
allocated to receive either HFCC or CPT three times a day. On admission,
clinical status and pulmonary function tests (PFT) in the HFCC group were
not significantly different from those measured in the CPT group.
Significant improvements in clinical status and PFT were observed after 7
and 14 d of treatment, and were similar in the two study groups, leading to
patient discharge after similar periods of hospitalization. We conclude
that HFCC and CPT are equally safe and effective when used during acute
pulmonary exacerbations in CF patients. We speculate that HFCC may provide
an adequate alternative in management of CF patients in a hospital setting.
