Efectos clínicos del entrenamiento muscular inspiratorio en pacientes con limitación crónica del flujo aéreo / Clinical effects of inspiratory muscular training in patients with chronic airway flow limitation

RESUMO

The clinical role of inspiratory muscular training (IMT) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has not been established, because data on its clinical effect is scarce and controversial. To further investigate these aspects we studied 20 COPD patients (FEV1 37ñ3 percent P) who were randomly and double blindy trained for 30 minutes a day during 10 weeks using a threshold inspiratory trainer with either 30 percent (group 1) or 10 percent (group 2) of PIMax as a training load. The training load was cossed after each patient completed 10 weeks of training. Effects were assessed through changes in PIMax, dyspnea through the transition dyspnea index (ITD) and the respiratory effort with Borg's score. Walking capacity was measured with the six minutes walking distance test (6WD) and depression symptoms with Beck's score. Daily life activities were also assessed. Results showed that after 10 weeks of IMT, PIMax increased in both groups (p<0.05), dyspnea improved in group 1 as compared to group 2 (p<0.04), 6WD increased significantly in group 1 disclosed a significant deterioration in PIMax whereas group 2 disclosed significant improvements in PIMax, dyspnea and 6WD. We conclude that IMT using a threshold device with 30 percent PIMax is a useful procedure for the treatment of severe COPD patients