Dr. Polverino, a specialist in respiratory physiotherapy, talks about the advantages of this treatment, especially for the management of bronchiectasis in adult patients.
What is the aim of respiratory physiotherapy?
The main objective of the treatment is to prevent exacerbations, reduce symptoms, increase quality of life and reduce the risk of future complications such as deterioration of lung function or severe exacerbations. This is achieved through a personalized pulmonary rehabilitation program that includes regular exercise. In cases of patients with productive cough and difficulty expectorating, it is the physiotherapists who will have to perform secretion clearance techniques once or twice daily. The purpose of this is to drain the secretions and prevent them from accumulating in the airways, reducing the exacerbations that can cause bronchiectasis.
Symptoms and causes
Bronchiectasis is a chronic respiratory pathology characterized by a poor quality of life and frequent exacerbations. One of the main symptoms is abnormal and permanent dilatations in the wall of the bronchi, manifested by increased production of secretions and expectoration. This can cause respiratory infections, chronic cough, hemoptysis, dyspnea, fatigue, among others. It can be diagnosed by high-resolution thoracic computed tomography (HRCT).
The origin of this pathology can be very varied. Some causes may be previous infections such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, COPD, asthma, etc. Cystic fibrosis can also become a cause of bronchiectasis but it is usually treated on an individual basis, as it is a genetic and systemic pathology that requires specialized treatment. For this reason, the term “bronchiectasis” does not refer to cystic fibrosis.
In addition, another cause may be the increasing health care cost, which has as a solution to develop pharmacoeconomic studies and socio-health strategies in order to optimize the management of patients.
Who is affected by this pathology?
This disease affects older women to a greater extent (63-68%). A recent study has determined that there are 227 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in men and 309 cases in women per 100,000 inhabitants.
Benefits of respiratory physiotherapy
The objectives include improving the quality of patient care and promoting the safety, effectiveness and cost of treatments.
Respiratory physiotherapy improves the drainage of respiratory secretions and improves the drainage of accumulated secretions in the airways. This helps to prevent infections or minimize their occurrence.
In addition, this treatment helps the patient to obtain a correct respiratory pattern that allows to improve pulmonary ventilation and avoids the accumulation of secretions in the airways and improves the oxygenation of the lungs.
This increases the tolerance to physical exercise thus avoiding the loss of muscle mass and decreasing the appearance of dyspnea. This increases the patient’s quality of life, as he/she suffers fewer complications caused by bronchiectasis. In addition, this type of treatment helps the patient to take an active role in the disease, control the symptoms and stabilize them. This will help improve their well-being, both physically and emotionally.