[Oscillating physiotherapy for secretolysis]

Assisted coughing and mechanical cough aids compensate for the weak cough flow in patients with neuromuscular diseases (NMD). In cases with preserved respiratory muscles also breathing techniques and special devices, e. g., flutter or acapella can be used for secretion mobilisation during infections of the airways. These means are summarised as oscillating physiotherapy. Their mechanisms are believed to depend on separation of the mucus from the bronchial wall by vibration, thus facilitating mucus transport from the peripheral to the central airways. In mucoviscidosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease their application is established, but there is a paucity of data regarding the commitment in patients with neuromuscular diseases. The effective adoption of simple oscillation physiotherapeutic interventions demands usually a sufficient force of the respiratory muscles--exceptions are the application of the percussionaire (intrapulmonary percussive ventilator, IPV) or high frequency chest wall oscillation (HFCWO). In daily practice there is evidence that patients with weak respiratory muscles are overstrained with the use of these physiotherapeutic means, or get exhausted. A general recommendation for the adoption of simple oscillating physiotherapeutic interventions cannot be made in patients with NMDs. Perhaps in the future devices such as IPV or HFCWO will prove to be more effective in NMD patients.