Effect of expiratory flow increase technique on pulmonary function of infants on mechanical ventilation

Background and Purpose Although chest physiotherapy techniques are commonly used in the treatment of respiratory diseases, there are, however, few studies in the literature on the effectiveness of these techniques in paediatric patients. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of the expiratory flow increase technique (EFIT) on the pulmonary function of infants on invasive mechanical pulmonary ventilation. Method A prospective, non‐randomized study design was used, with consecutive enrolment conducted in the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of a university hospital. All infants with acute obstructive respiratory failure who were on invasive mechanical pulmonary ventilation between April 2001 and April 2003 were included in this study. Respiratory rate, PaO2, PaCO2, SatO2, PaO2/FiO2, P(A–a)O2/PaO2, PaO2/PAO2, VD/VT, dynamic compliance, inspiratory and expiratory resistance values were compared before and after application of the EFIT. Results Blood gas and pulmonary function measurements were recorded before and after EFIT. Repeated‐measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used. The results were considered statistically significant when p values were