Pursed Lips Breathing (PLB) in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Abstract

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5915/19-1-12826 Pursed lips breathing (PLB) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease often gives immediate symptomatic relief from dyspnea by a mechanism that is not well understood. We studied six adult Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) patients using pursed lips breathing and recorded the following parameters (a) subjective relief from dyspnea graded from mild to maximal. (b) breathing pattern including respiratory rate, tidal volume and total expiration time, (c) specific airways conductance, (d) airway pressures, (e) lung volumes including functional residual capacity, (f) volume of trapped gas. Our study confirms that pursed lips breathing in COPD patients gives (a) symptomatic relief from dyspnea, (b) the breathing pattern is more efficient, (c) airway pressures are increased, (d) there is a significant drop in functional residual capacity during PLB. Presented at the Islamic Medical Association annual convention, Niagara Falls, New York, 1985