Incentive Spirometry for Prevention of Postoperative Pulmonary Complications After Thoracic Surgery

Incentive spirometry is frequently used after thoracic surgery as an adjunct to physiotherapy. Despite its widespread use, it has remained challenging to demonstrate a clinical benefit in terms of either incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications or hospital stay. In this literature review,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Respiratory care 2021-02, Vol.66 (2), p.327-333
Main Authors: Kotta, Prasanti A, Ali, Jason M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Breathing exercises
Complications and side effects
Humans
Lung
Lung diseases, Obstructive
Medical research
Medicine, Experimental
Motivation
Narrative Review
Patient compliance
Physical Therapy Modalities
Postoperative Complications - etiology
Postoperative Complications - prevention & control
Prevention
Respiratory agents
Spirometry
Thoracic Surgery
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Summary:Incentive spirometry is frequently used after thoracic surgery as an adjunct to physiotherapy. Despite its widespread use, it has remained challenging to demonstrate a clinical benefit in terms of either incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications or hospital stay. In this literature review, we have observed that, although there is no study supporting clinical benefit in the thoracic surgical patient population generally, there is now emerging evidence of benefit in higher-risk patient populations such as those with COPD. There is an indication that incentive spirometry can lead to a reduction in the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications in these patients. The problem with studies published to date is that there are many limitations, not least of which is the challenge of achieving patient adherence with performing incentive spirometry as prescribed. Despite the lack of evidence, there remains an appetite for persevering with incentive spirometry in the postoperative thoracic surgical patient because it is a relatively inexpensive intervention that motivates many patients to perform regular breathing exercises long after the therapist has moved on to the next patient.
ISSN:0020-1324
1943-3654
DOI:10.4187/respcare.07972