The Effect of Expiratory Volume Techniques to Oxygenation and Expiratory Volume in Premature Infants with Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Background: Chest physiotherapy in premature infants reduces respiratory work, improving oxygenation, and increasing expiration volume. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the effect of expiratory volume techniques to oxygenation and expiratory volume in premature infants with respiratory distress syndrome.

Methods: In this randomized clinical trial, 32 premature infants with respiratory distress syndrome were included. The subjects were randomly divided into a routine chest physiotherapy group, and expiratory volume techniques group. Intervention was conducted two times per day for five days. Overall, FiO2, PEEP, PIP, MAP, respiratory rate, O2sat, and expiratory volume were evaluated before and after intervention with the ventilator system. Data were analyzed with the paired sample and independent t-tests (p<0.05).

Results: In the expiratory volume techniques group, the overall expiratory volume changed from 8.05± 3.1 to17.50±7.3, the FiO2 significantly changed from 71.7±22.0 to 42.0±11.8, the PEEP significantly changed from 6.20±0.5 to 5.80±0.4, the PIP significantly changed from 15.40±3.03 to 11.60±2.9, and the MAP significantly changed from 8.6±1.4 to 7.7±0.9 (p<0.05). There is no significant difference in the expiratory volume and FiO2 between routine chest physiotherapy and expiratory volume techniques groups (p>0.05).

Conclusion: According to the results of the study, the positive effects of expiratory volume techniques to oxygenation were shown, so we suggest that in addition to routine chest physiotherapy, expiratory volume techniques should also be considered in infants with respiratory distress syndrome.