The production of abundant mucus and occasionally purulent secretions in the airways characterizes different pediatric respiratory diseases. Permeability and quality of the airways must be saved by the elimination of the sputum as often as it accumulates. The many procedures to accomplish this are called bronchial drainage and need the aid of a physiotherapist. A new method will be shown. It is based principally on iterative deep expirations which bring gradually up the secretions until they can be expelled. This is performed in a normal sitting position without external aid by children older than six and therefore it is called autogenic drainage (AD). A child who needed for diagnostic purpose a bronchography had been previously trained for AD and this was registered on magnetic tape recorder after the bronchography and later duplicated on film. It shows the progression of opacified sputum from the peripheral bronchi up to the upper trachea. Cough in comparison with AD doesn't cause advance of sputum because it collapses the airways. It is speculated that this easy method will improve the treatment of chronic obstructive lung diseases in children.
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