Maheen Shad¹, Faran Khan²*, Abdullah Khalid Qureshi¹, Mahnoor Javed¹ and Umer Rafiq¹

¹Department of Physical Therapy, School of Health Sciences, University of Management and Technology, Pakistan

*Corresponding Author: Faran Khan, Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Health Sciences, University of Management and Technology, Pakistan.

Received: July 06, 2022; Published: August 30, 2022

Abstract

Background: The global COVID-19 pandemic has brought the entire world to a halt, resulting in illness, disabilities, death, and changes in personal roles. Pneumonia and respiratory complications along with failure of respiratory system are the most common causes of morbidity and death in these individuals, necessitating mechanical ventilation and other methods to enhance respiratory function. Chest physiotherapy is one of these methods.

Objective: The goal of this review was to collate and critically review chest physiotherapy- related articles that were relevant to COVID-19 and its complications and summarize different techniques and their safety and efficacy in critically ill as well as in post extubation period.

Methods: Google Scholar, PubMed, PEDro, and The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were utilized to conduct the literature search. "Respiratory Physiotherapy," "Breathing Techniques," "COVID-19," and "Coronavirus" were among the keywords. As needed, a Boolean search was used. Studies that utilized physiotherapy intervention as a technique for COVID-19 recovery were included in the selection criteria. Animal trials, non-COVID-19 investigations, and physiotherapy as an additional treatment were all ruled out. The study looked at evidence from all full-text English papers published between December 2019 and January 2022.

Results: Of the retrieved 130 articles, 33 articles were excluded at the title and abstract screening. 97 articles underwent full-text screening and further narrowed to 12 studies matching the expected criteria. 86 studies were excluded for various reasons.

Conclusion: Patients with COVID-19 may benefit from chest physiotherapy, especially after discharge, to improve their respiratory functioning and quality of life. Apart from some expert advice based on anecdotal data, there is still a dearth of proof on its efficacy during the acute period.

Keywords: Chest physiotherapy; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; ventilation; Extubation

References

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Citation

Citation: Faran Khan., et al. “Safety and Efficacy of Respiratory Physiotherapy and Breathing Techniques in Patients with COVID-19". Acta Scientific Medical Sciences 6.9 (2022): 164-178.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2022 Faran Khan., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.