Respiratory muscle training improves the work of breathing and decreases inspiratory muscle fatigue in patients after lung transplantation

Abstract

Introduction: Patients after lung transplantation report limitations in physical functioning associated with muscle weakness and breathlessness. There is limited data quantifying respiratory muscle function in patients after lung transplantation. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate respiratory muscle function and assess the effect of respiratory muscle training (RMT) on occlusion pressure (P0.1) and tension-time index of inspiratory muscle (TTmus) in patients more than 12 months after lung transplantation. Methods: 16 clinically stable patients (49.6 years old, 8 men/8women) with single (n=2) and bilateral lung grafts (n=16) underwent respiratory muscle testing at baseline and after 4-week RMT with inspiratory and expiratory breathing devices. Results: For most patients, maximal inspiratory (PImax) and expiratory (PEmax) mouth pressures reached normal values. Only 2 patients had decreased inspiratory muscle strength and 3 had decreased expiratory muscle strength. On the contrary, P0.1 was higher than 0.2kPa in 72.2% of patients at baseline. TTmus was higher in women than in men at baseline (0.11 vs. 0.18, p=.03). Significant improvement after RMT was confirmed for respiratory muscle strength, P0.1 and TTmus (Table 1). Patients had less breathing difficulties during activities of daily living. Conclusion: RMT resulted in marked improvement in respiratory muscle strength, as well as improvement in the work of breathing and a decrease in inspiratory muscle fatigue.