347 A comparison of five airway clearance techniques in the treatment of people with Cystic Fibrosis

Guidelines for the physiotherapy management of the adult, medical, spontaneously breathing patient

“…The active cycle of breathing techniques with gravity-assisted positioning is as effective as autogenic drainage, either sitting or supine, in clearing sputum in the short term174 and as effective as autogenic drainage, PEP or two different oscillating PEP devices over a period of 1 year 175…”

“…A Cochrane review181 of PEP devices compared with other forms of physiotherapy, as a means of improving mucus clearance, concluded that there was no clear evidence that PEP was a more or less effective intervention. PEP is as effective as the active cycle of breathing techniques, autogenic drainage or two different oscillating PEP devices over a period of 1 year 175. The studies analysed used different forms of PEP devices, mask or mouthpiece, but there is no evidence to suggest any differences in effectiveness between the two.…”

“…One device has been shown to be as effective as autogenic drainage in altering sputum rheology179 and as effective as postural drainage with percussion in short-term trials 182 183. Two devices have been shown to be as effective as the active cycle of breathing techniques, autogenic drainage or ordinary PEP over a period of 1 year,175 with nothing to suggest any difference in effectiveness between the two. There is insufficient evidence to assess the comparative effectiveness of the third currently available device.…”

Physiotherapeutic management strategies for the treatment of cystic fibrosis in adults

“…PEP has been demonstrated to be equivalent in effectiveness to other commonly used techniques such as ACBT, AD, cornet, and flutter when used over 1 year. 21 There have been suggestions in papers prior to this study that PEP may be superior to oscillating PEP for reducing hospital admissions 22 , 23 and superior to other forms of airway clearance for sputum clearance. 20 , 24 , 25 However, the decision to use PEP over another technique needs to be individually assessed as the evidence is not robust enough to apply this to all patients.…”

Artificial intelligence techniques: An efficient new approach to challenge the assessment of complex clinical fields such as airway clearance techniques in patients with cystic fibrosis?

“…Various physiotherapy techniques and their effect on the patient's state have been reported (4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10).…”