The effects of lung volume recruitment on coughing and pulmonary function in patients with ALS

Abstract

Our objective was to study the intensity and duration of the effects of lung volume recruitment, a manual breath stacking technique, on pulmonary function and coughing in individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Twenty-nine individuals with ALS participated in this study. A cross-over research design was used to compare effects of lung volume recruitment to a control condition. Treatment outcome measures included forced vital capacity (FVC), sniff nasal pressure (SnP) and peak cough flow (PCF). Results demonstrated that LVR had a significantly positive effect on FVC for up to 15 min following treatment but did not have a facilitative effect on SnP at any time-point. LVR had a significantly positive effect on PCF during unassisted coughing at both 15 min and 30 min following treatment, and there was no significant decrease in flow rates from baseline to 30 min later. In conclusion, lung volume recruitment may be an effective treatment for improving coughing and pulmonary function in individuals with ALS. Future research should be focused on determining patient characteristics that contribute to response to treatment, as well as randomized controlled trials of the technique.

Key words::

• ALS
• manual breath stacking
• coughing

Acknowledgements

We thank the individuals with ALS and their families who took part in this study.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

This study was supported by the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine Internal Research Grant, Caritas Health Group: Research Trust Fund and in part by a donation from the University of Alberta Hospital Foundation and was based on findings from the first author's PhD dissertation.