Includes bibliographical references / Purpose: Cardio-respiratory physiotherapy for patients undergoing abdominal surgery has been found to be beneficial in improving lung function post-operatively and in the prevention and treatment of post-operative pulmonary complications (PPCs). The Blow Bottle, a Positive Expiratory Pressure (PEP) therapy device, is commonly used as an adjunct to physiotherapy. The Blow Bottle is low cost and can be easily made by the physiotherapist using readily available materials in the hospital setting. However, evidence to support the use of Blow Bottles in the post-operative management of abdominal surgery is minimal, with few studies reporting significant positive effects especially when compared to conventional cardio-respiratory physiotherapy techniques. Methodology: A randomized control was implemented in a public tertiary institution within the Western Cape. Patients admitted for open abdominal surgery via midline incision were eligible for the trial. Participants were randomly allocated to either the control group (CG) receiving conventional post-operative cardio-respiratory physiotherapy, or the intervention group (IG) who received the additional use of the Blow Bottle. Lung function and the development of post-operative pulmonary complications were the primary outcome s of this study. Lung Function was evaluated by means of spirometry testing and interpretation of Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second (FEV 1) and Forced Vital Capacity (FVC). The development of post-operative pulmonary complications were diagnosed using the criteria by Mackay et al. (2005) where changes from pre-operative findings of auscultation; temperature, X-ray and sputum are evaluated post-operatively and recorded using the Adapted Abdominal Physiotherapy Outcomes Data Sheet (A-APODS). Results: A total of 19 participants were enrolled in the study, n=11 (CG) and n=8 (IG), predominantly female (n=14) and admitted for cancer related abdominal surgery (n=9). There was a statistically significant (p<0.05) marked reduction in post-operative lung function from baseline across groups, 62% in FEV 1 and 47% in FVC on the first post-operative day. The FEV 1 and FVC were similar across both the control and intervention groups for the first three post-operative days. On auscultation majority of participants had decreased breath sounds on the first post-operative day. However, no one participant developed a PPC across the duration of the study as diagnosed using the criteria by Mackay et al. (2005). Conclusion: Whether the additional use of the Blow Bottle is more beneficial than conventional post-operative cardio-physiotherapy alone is inconclusive due to the incremental drop out of participants from the study and small sample size. In this study there was however a significant reduction in lung function post-operatively. This mandates the need for further research investigating the abdominal surgical field and the use of devices to improve lung function, such as the Blow Bottle, as literature is scant and outdated, and sorely lacking in the resource constraint South African hospital settings.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uct/oai:localhost:11427/16681 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Jacobs, Rene Catherine |
| Contributors | Manie, Shamila, Pienaar, Lunelle |
| Publisher | University of Cape Town, Faculty of Health Sciences, Division of Physiotherapy |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Master Thesis, Masters, MSc (Physiotherapy) |
| Format | application/pdf |
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