Entrenamiento de los músculos respiratorios: ¿sí o no?

Abstract

Introduction It is clear that circumstantial, experimental and clinical trial evidences support respiratory muscle training as a beneficial strategy in patients with chronic respiratory disease. In recent years, a number of studies have demonstrated that, when training loads are controlled, inspiratory and expiratory muscle training result in important functional benefits. Nevertheless, despite this relative plethora of information regarding not only respiratory muscle function but also structure, there are critical and valuable questions that still remain to be answered and appear to stimulate controversies around the rationale for respiratory muscle training. These controversies translate into the fact that respiratory muscle training has both detractors and defenders in the context of rehabilitation. Objective One critical point is how detractors and defenders can reach an evidence-based consensus to orientate respiratory muscle training towards clinically and pharmaco-economically relevant decisions. Conclusion This article focuses in five groups of questions on the fields of physiopathological, basic, clinical, and pharmaco-economic research regarding respiratory muscle training in patients with respiratory diseases and elite sport athletes.