Effectiveness of Peak Flow Meter Exercises to Improve Atelectasis after Surgery Involving Sternotomy

Background: In the current time cardiopulmonary disorders are the most common cause of death and disability among which atelectasis has now become an advanced disease in Pakistan and all over the world. Atelectasis is a condition in which one or more areas of your lungs collapse or don't inflate properly which is appeared with high morbidity and mortality. There appears to be no published data on Peak flow meter exercises and effects of Peak flow meter exercises on atelectasis in Pakistan or in the world. The purpose of this study is the advancement and role of Peak flow meter exercises after atelectasis.
Study Objective: To determine the effectiveness of Peak flow meter exercises on atelectasis.
Methodology: A total of 56 patients were selected post atelectasis with a complaint of absent or decreased air entry in lung bases. All the patients were selected by non-probability convenient sampling and distributed randomly into control (n=28) and experimental (n=28) groups. A well-designed questionnaire was used for the collection of data. The assessment before and after Peak flow meter exercises was done and different variables (auscultation scale, arterial blood gases and dyspnea Borges scale) were noted. General physical therapy protocol was given to all patients but Peak flow meter exercises were added for the experimental group.
Results: Different variables were analyzed and the experimental group shows highly significant (p<0.05) in the improvement of lung sound and x-ray. It was also noted that the Borges Dyspnea scale (p<0.5) and auscultation scale (p<0.05), partial pressure of carbon dioxide (p<0.05) all found highly significant in the experimental group, but the PO2(p>0.5) and SO2(p>0.05) was not found significant due to lack of control on oxygen flow in the patients.
Conclusion: These findings suggest that Peak flow meter exercises are effective to improve lung expansion in atelectasis patients. The improvement of the experimental group was early as compare to the control group. The potential for administration of technique was safe and proved to be very effective for the improvement of atelectasis