Impact of respiratory muscle training on blood gases and pulmonary function among patients with cervical spinal cord injury

Abstract

Background:Pulmonary difficulties is the most common cause of morbidity and mortality following spinal cord injury, which is the main cause of chronic respiratory failure in young adults.Objective:This study aimed to investigate the effect of resistive respiratory muscle training on blood gases and pulmonary function of patients with cervical spinal cord injury.Methods:Thirty six patients with complete spinal cord injury at level from C5 to C8 of both sexes (23 males and 9 females), their age ranged from 23-41 years (30.51±6.82 year) were selected from ICU of Cairo University Hospital participated in this study. Their height ranged between 149-185cm. Participants equally enrolled to either training group (group A) or control group (group B). The respiratory muscle resisted training program was started for group (A) after the clinical stability of patient condition with a threshold positive expiratory pressure device using a three-way valve system via flanged mouthpiece. The patient performed six work sets, five minutes in duration, with a rest period in between for three minutes. All patients received a 45 minutes training/day, five days/ week for six weeks. The arterial blood gases and pulmonary function test are measured before and after exercise program.Results:The mean value of heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR), partial pressure of arterial carbon dioxide (PaCO2) and PH revealed significant reduction, where forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) and partial pressure of arterial oxygen (PaO2) revealed significant increase in group (A) at the end of the study. However, changes in group (B) were not significant. Moreover, there were significant differences between both groups at the end of the study (P<0.05).Conclusion:Resistive respiratory muscle training improves blood gases and pulmonary function suggesting this intervention as an efficacious therapy for patients with cervical spinal cord injury.