IMPORTANCE Incentive spirometers (ISs) were developed to reduce atelectasis and are in widespread clinical use. However, without IS use adherence data, the effectiveness of IS cannot be determined.OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of a use-tracking IS reminder on patient adherence and clinical outcomes following coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTSThis randomized clinical trial was conducted from June 5, 2017, to December 29, 2017, at a tertiary referral teaching hospital and included 212 patients who underwent CABG, of whom 160 participants were randomized (intent to treat), with 145 completing the study per protocol. Participants were stratified by surgical urgency (elective vs nonelective) and sex (men vs women).INTERVENTIONS A use-tracking, IS add-on device (SpiroTimer) with an integrated use reminder bell recorded and timestamped participants' inspiratory breaths. Patients were randomized by hourly reminder "bell on" (experimental group) or "bell off" (control group). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURESIncentive spirometer use was recorded for the entire postoperative stay and compared between groups. Radiographic atelectasis severity (score, 0-10) was the primary clinical outcome. Secondary respiratory and nonrespiratory outcomes were also evaluated.RESULTS A total of 145 per-protocol participants (112 men [77%]; mean age, 69 years [95% CI, 67-70]; 90 [62%] undergoing a nonelective procedure) were evaluated, with 74 (51.0%) in the bell off group and 71 (49.0%) in the bell on group. The baseline medical and motivation-torecover characteristics of the 2 groups were similar. The mean number of daily inspiratory breaths was greater in bell on (35; 95% CI, 29-43 vs 17; 95% CI, 13-23; P < .001). The percentage of recorded hours with an inspiratory breath event was greater in bell on (58%; 95% CI, 51-65 vs 28%; 95% CI, 23-32; P < .001). Despite no differences in the first postoperative chest radiograph mean atelectasis severity scores (2.3; 95% CI, 2.0-2.6 vs 2.4; 95% CI, 2.2-2.7; P = .48), the mean atelectasis severity scores for the final chest radiographs conducted before discharge were significantly lower for bell on than bell off group (1.5; 95% CI, 1.3-1.8 vs 1.8; 95% CI, 1.6-2.1; P = .04). Of those with early postoperative fevers, fever duration was shorter for bell on (3.2 hours; 95% CI, 2.3-4.6 vs 5.2 hours; 95% CI, 3.9-7.0; P = .04). Having the bell turned on reduced noninvasive positive pressure ventilation use rates (37.2%; 95% CI, 24.1%-52.5% vs 19.2%; 95% CI, 10.2%-33.0%; P = .03) for participants undergoing nonelective procedures. Bell on reduced the median postoperative length of stay (7 days; 95% CI, 6-9 vs 6 days; 95% CI, 6-7; P = .048) and the intensive care unit length of stay for patients undergoing nonelective procedures (4 days; 95% CI, 3-5 vs 3 days; 95% CI, 3-4; P = .02). At 6 months, the bell off mortality rate was higher than bell on (9% vs 0%, P = .048) for participants undergoing nonelective procedures. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCEThe incentive spirome...

There was a major discrepancy between health care professionals' beliefs and the published clinical effectiveness data supporting IS. Despite reported adequate education on IS, variability in what health care professionals believed to be appropriate use underscores the literature's lack of standardization and evidence for specific use procedures.

Despite largely unproven clinical effectiveness, incentive spirometry (IS) is widely used in an effort to reduce postoperative pulmonary complications. The objective of the study is to evaluate the financial impact of implementing IS. The amount of time nurses and RTs spend each day doing IS-related activities was assessed utilizing an online survey distributed to the relevant national nursing and respiratory therapists (RT) societies along with questionnaire that was prospectively collected every day for 4 weeks at a single 10-bed cardiothoracic surgery step-down unit. Cost of RT time to teach IS use to patients and cost of nurse time spent reeducating and reminding patients to use IS were used to calculate IS implementation cost estimates per patient. Per-patient cost of IS implementation ranged from $65.30 to $240.96 for a mean 9-day step-down stay. For the 566 patients who stayed in the 10-bed step-down in 2016, the total estimated cost of implementing IS ranged from $36 959.80 to $136 383.36. Using national survey workload data, per-patient cost of IS implementation costed $107.36 (95% confidence interval [CI], $97.88-$116.98) for a hospital stay of 4.5 days. For the 9.7 million inpatient surgeries performed annually in the United States, the total annual cost of implementing postoperative IS is estimated to be $1.04 billion (95% CI, $949.4 million-$1.13 billion). The cost of implementing IS is substantial. Further efficacy studies are necessary to determine whether the cost is justifiable.