NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The results of a small pilot study indicate that the Percussive Tech HF (PTHF) device (Vortran Medical Technology) compares well with standard chest physiotherapy (CPT) in the management of patients with cystic fibrosis.
Dr. John H. Marks of Michigan State University, Kalamazoo and colleagues note that the device aids mucous clearance from the airways by means of means of rapid aerosol minibursts that produce intrapulmonary percussion. The PTHF incorporates a nebulizer and is capable of percussive oscillations at a rate of up to 840 per minute.
To see how this approach compares with CPT, the researchers studied 10 clinically stable patients with cystic fibrosis.
The subjects two treatment regimens: 2.5 mg of albuterol via a nebulizer followed by CPT, and 2.5 mg of albuterol delivered via the PTHF device without CPT.
Although there was a trend to decreasing residual volume, no pulmonary function test parameters were changed 4 hours after either treatment. There was also a trend toward more sputum production after PTHF, but this did not reach significance.
One patient had minor hemoptysis after CPT. There were no adverse events after PTHF.
A majority of patients preferred the PTHF device to CPT.
The researchers note that long-term studies of the effects of PTHF on pulmonary function are required “before it can be recommended as an alternative to CPT or other airway clearance methods.”
Source: Chest 2004;125:1507-1511. [ Google search on this article ]
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