By
Samiaa Hamdy
Assistant Lecturer of Chest Diseases
Assiut University
The American Thoracic Society (ATS)
and the European Respiratory Society
(ERS)define pulmonary rehabilitation (PR)
as “an evidence-based, multidisciplinary,
and comprehensive intervention for
patients with chronic respiratory diseases
who are symptomatic and often have
decreased daily life activities.
It is a treatment structured for:
ill patients with chronic respiratory
problems whose pulmonary function
has decreased, even after other
medical treatment.
patients who remain symptomatic,
even if their pulmonary function has
not decreased after other medical
treatment.
Aims of Pulmonary Rehabilitation
Reduces Dyspnoea
Increase exercise tolerance
Improve functional performance
Increase muscle endurance (peripheral and
respiratory)
Improve muscle strength (peripheral and
respiratory)
Promote long term commitment to exercise
Help allay patient fear and anxiety
Increase knowledge of lung condition and
promote self management
Improve health related quality of life
Increase independence in daily functioning
Medical diagnosis of a chronic, but stable
respiratory condition that is under optimal
medical management. Exhibits disabling
symptoms that impede the patient’s level
of function in performing activities of
daily living (ADLs).
Target population
Contraindications
Absolute contraindications
Severe pulmonary hypertension with
dizziness or syncope on exertion
Severe congestive heart failure refractory to
medical management
Unstable coronary syndromes, or
Malignancy with bone instability or
refractory fatigue.
Patients with a greater degree of ventilatory
reserve (minute ventilation measuring
[VE]/maximum voluntary ventilation achieve
greater improvements in exercise capacity
following training compared to patients with
lesser reserve, particularly if they also have
impaired peripheral muscle strength prior to
training.
One should not exclude patients with severe
dyspnea from participating in exercise training
on this basis alone.
Components of rehabilitation
Program
Exercise Training
Education
Psychosocial/behavioral intervention
Outcome Assessment
Exercise Training:
TYPES AND INTENSITY OF
TRAINING
Lower-limb training
Upper-limb and/or
Respiratory muscle training
Exercise Training:
Aerobic endurance versus strength training,(
aerobic fitness "endurance" training improves
one’s ability to sustain an exercise task at a
given work load.
Walking, running, cycling, stair climbing and
swimming are examples of endurance training
exercise.
In contrast, strength training involves bursts
of activity over a shorter period, such as occur
during weight lifting).
High-VersusLow-IntensityAerobicFitness
"Endurance"Training(high-intensityexercise
isconsideredtobethatwhichtakesplaceat
greaterthan60percentofthepatient’s
VO
2maxorWmax,whereaslowerintensity
exerciseisconductedatlowerworkrates).
Theoptimaltypeandintensityoftraining
remainsasubjectofdebate.
Upper-limb muscle training may consist of endurance
training (via arm ergometry [supported exercise], or
unsupported, arm-lifting exercise), or strength
training (weight lifting).
Reported benefits of upper-limb training include
improved arm muscle endurance and strength reduced
metabolic demand associated with arm exercise and
improved sense of well-being
ATS Statement on Pulmonary Rehabilitation
recommend that upper limb training be included
routinely as a component of the rehabilitation of
patients with COPD.
The most widely used modalities of exercise
training are walking and cycling, singly or in
combination, and should be considered in
terms of frequency, duration, and intensity.
To demonstrate a physiological training effect
outpatient courses should have:
A course duration of 4–12 weeks.
Supervised training sessions 2–5 times per week;
A session duration of 20–30 minutes;
A target exercise intensity corresponding to at
least 60% of the maximum attained power output
or VO
2 peak in a preliminary progressive maximal
exercise test; alternatively,60% of the maximal
walking speed achieved on the shuttle walk test
could be used.
Education:
Patienteducationisacentralfeatureof
pulmonaryrehabilitationbutisnoteffectivealone.
It has the advantage of:
Encourages active participation in health
care.
Better understanding of disease.
Improved compliance.
It also include information concerning types of
medication, action, adverse effects, dose and
proper use of inhaled medications, Instructions in
inhaler technique and appropriate use of oxygen.
Psychosocial Intervention:
Anxiety, depression, difficulties coping with
chronic disease
Aided by regular patient education session
or support groups
Instruction in progressive muscle
relaxation, stress reduction, panic control
Nutritional Assessment:
Poor nutrition frequently accompanies
advanced lung disease and is an independent
predictor of worsening mortality and health
status.
Wherever possible a measure of fat free
mass should be made to identify those
affected.
Other patients may be obese and dietary
advice to both groups may be helpful.
Nutritional Assessment:
Nutritional supplements can increase fat free
mass and muscle strength; the effect on
efficiency of physical training is unknown.
Anabolic agents are also being examined and
may increase muscle bulk but not exercise
capacity.
Outcome Assessment
Outcome Assessment:
An important component of pulmonary
rehabilitation, being used to determine individual
patient responses and evaluate overall effectiveness
of program.
Dyspnea, Borg scale, Visual Analog Scale
Exercise Ability –Borg Scale, 6MDW/Progressive
exercise testing pre and post rehab.
Health Status –Respiratory-related QOL.
Activity Levels –Respiratory-Specific functional
Status.
Outcome Assessment:
The gold standard measure is a laboratory
exercise test on either a treadmill or cycle
ergometer.
A symptom limited maximal test has been
shown to be sensitive to change following
rehabilitation (VO2max,Wmax, and lactate
threshold, and of comparing values before and
after exercise training.
Muscle biopsies can be used to detect structural
and metabolic changes following training.
More recently, it has been appreciated that
biomarkers such as exhaled nitric oxide (NO)
may be of use in assessing the physiologic
response to exercise training.
Increases in exhaled NO have also been
associated with improvements in exercise
tolerance following PR for persons with COPD.