Keywords
Neuromuscular diseases, chest wall oscillation, intra-pulmonary percussive ventilation, lung function measurements, quality of life
Neuromuscular diseases, chest wall oscillation, intra-pulmonary percussive ventilation, lung function measurements, quality of life
In our second version of this article, we have made clarifications in the abstract and the method.
We have also updated our article on the basis of the recommendations of the latest PRISMA guideline and updated especially the flowchart, checklist, and added the differences with the protocol in the discussion.
Concerning the results, we have made clarifications according to the minimal clinically important difference of the outcomes when these were available. In addition, we have specified in the text for each outcome what the quality of evidence was.
See the authors' detailed response to the review by Ivanizia S. Silva
See the authors' detailed response to the review by Masahiro Banno
95% CI, Confidence interval; cmH2O, Centimetre of water; FEV1, Forced expiratory volume in 1 second; FVC, Forced vital capacity; GRADE, Grading of recommendations assessment development and evaluation; HFCWC, High frequency chest wall compression; IPV, Intrapulmonary percussive ventilation; IRR, Incidence rate ratio; MD, Mean difference; NMD, Neuromuscular disease; PRISMA, Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses; QoL, Quality of life; RCT, Randomised controlled trial; RXO, Randomised cross-over study
Ineffective cough mechanisms can occur in patients with neuromuscular disease (NMD) as a result of inspiratory and expiratory muscle weakness, as well as impaired glottic function1,2. In the long term, secretion retention leads to airway obstruction, inflammation, breathing difficulty, repeated acute respiratory tract infection, and consequently chronic lung disease and a predisposition to ventilatory failure3–6. Maintaining clear airways is crucial in patients with NMD, because respiratory insufficiency is one of the main causes of death4.
For secretion clearance, secretion mobilisation techniques and assisted coughing techniques are recommended7. However, the standard secretion mobilisation techniques, such as postural drainage techniques, chest wall strapping, positive expiratory pressure and oscillatory positive expiratory pressure, are ineffective in very weak patients because they are effort-dependent2,8, and these patients are generally unable to generate sufficient expiratory flow3. These techniques are also difficult to apply in cases of chest wall or spinal deformities, as well as osteoporotic ribs9. In these specific cases, other techniques are favoured, such as high frequency chest wall oscillations (HFCWO), high frequency chest wall compression (HFCWC) or intrapulmonary percussive ventilation (IPV)9. These methods have the benefit of working without the patient’s active participation, especially in patients with tracheostomy and/or bulbar failure, and/or intellectual impairment3.
Arcuri et al. conducted a systematic review of airway clearance and analysed patients with NMD. They reported that HFCWC does not improve the survival rate or the loss of FVC. In addition, HFCWC does not decrease the frequency of respiratory infections, and IPV is unsuccessful in enhancing peak expiratory flow10.
Even if there is a growing interest in the use of IPV and HFCWC, Arcuri et al. did not include every existing publication in their recent review10, probably because they included studies with a majority of adults and the severity of the chronic disease had to be identified with the National Hospice Organisation Criteria11. It is thus of clinical relevance to make an up to date synthesis of the available evidence regarding the use of IPV and HFCWC12.
We hypothesised that IPV and HFCWC might mobilise secretions, recruit obstructed areas of the lungs and prevent the negative consequences of muscle weakness related to neuromuscular disease. Hence, our main objective was to explore the effects of HFCWC and IPV, as compared with standard care or no treatment, on lung volume and capacity (as a result of secretions mobilisation), as well as quality of life (QoL) in patients with neuromuscular disease in acute or stable condition. We further assessed the effects of IPV and HFCWC on clinical value (arterial blood gases and the patient’s subjective respiratory perception of dyspnoea), complications and survival.
This systematic review followed the recommendations of the Cochrane Guidelines for systematic review of interventions as well as the recommendations of the updated Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement13. The protocol of this review was not published in a peer-review journal but it is available on PROSPERO, the registration number is CRD42017064703.
The research strategy was performed by KG on the following databases: Embase, MEDLINE (through PubMed), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), PEDro on 30 June 2020 and on CINAHL on 6 July 2020. No language restriction was set. We used the filters for RCTs in PubMed and Embase recommended by Cochrane. We also searched the grey literature in the reference lists of articles, Google Scholar and registered trials in the US National Institutes for Health Clinical Trials Registry14. The research strategy was composed of two parts that were combined with “AND” (see Extended data: File 1 for full search strategies). The first part was composed of relevant terms to identify the population. The second part included terms related to the studied interventions. In both parts, MeSH terms were used when available.
Study type. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and randomised cross-over studies (RXOs) were eligible.
Participants. We included adults and children with NMD with or without tracheotomy.
Interventions. The interventions of interest were HFCWC or HFCWO and IPV.
Comparator. The intervention was compared to either standard care or no treatment. We considered as standard care to comprise active cycles of breathing techniques and chest physiotherapy, such as postural drainage therapy.
Outcomes. The primary outcomes were lung volume and capacity, as measured with lung function tests, including forced vital capacity (FVC), total lung capacity, functional capacity, vital capacity, predicted FVC%, forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), peak expiratory flow, peak cough expiratory flow and the Tiffeneau-Pinelli index (FEV1/FVC). The respiratory muscle strength was assessed with the maximal inspiratory pressure and maximal expiratory pressure. The additional outcomes were a) clinical values comprising arterial blood gases and the patient’s subjective respiratory perception of dyspnoea, b) complications (e.g., the number of days of hospitalisation, respiratory tract infection rate, death rate and antibiotic use), c) survival rate, and d) patient QoL.
Three reviewers (TC, KG, and RH) independently screened the titles and the abstracts and read the full texts. At each step, the results were compared, and disagreements were discussed until a consensus was reached. If disagreement persisted, a fourth person (LA) made the final decision. Articles in languages other than English, French, German and Italian were excluded if no translator could be found and if articles did not report separate results for patients with NMD. Reviewers KG and TC extracted the data regarding the study characteristics (country, diagnosis, inclusion and exclusion criteria, age, sex and number randomised patients), the interventions (type of interventions, frequency, duration and intensity), and the outcome measures (lung function, blood gas analysis, hospitalisations or antibiotic use, survival rate, mortality rate, respiratory tract infection rate and QoL). Disagreements were discussed, and a consensus was reached. Then, reviewer KG integrated the data into Review Manager 5.3.
Regarding the missing data, authors were contacted to ask for precisions. In case of non-response one reminder was sent. Among the seven authors, four answered but had not longer access to the requested data and three out of seven authors did not answer.
Reviewers KG and TC independently evaluated the risk of bias of the RCTs and the RXO with the Cochrane revised risk of bias tool (RoB 2.0 tool; 9 October 2018 version)15. The results were compared, and differences in the evaluation were discussed until a consensus was reached. If the two reviewers still disagreed, the third reviewer, LA, was contacted to make the final decision.
We extracted or calculated the treatment effects of the RCTs with the between-group differences of the mean change values and calculated the 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) if data were available. The relative risk (risk ratio, RR) with a 95% CI was extracted or calculated for dichotomous data. We extracted the incidence rate ratio (IRR) for person-time data. The outcomes were collected after the end of the intervention.
We calculated the treatment effects of the RXO with the between-session differences of the mean end values and calculated the 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) if data were available.
Given that a meta-analysis was not feasible, each outcome was presented in a table separated by intervention. We used the Review Manager 5.316 for the calculations.
One reviewer (KG) assessed the certainty of evidence by using the Grade of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation Working Group (GRADE Working Group) guidelines17.
The electronic search identified 1588 records. After removing 398 duplicates, we screened 1182 titles and abstracts and 1058 records were excluded. In total, 124 full texts were screened, and 119 were excluded for the following reasons: wrong design 13, wrong intervention 4, wrong population 101, study in Hebrew 1. (PRISMA flow diagram13 in Figure 1). Five studies were included according to the eligibility criteria18–22. Three RCTs18,21,22 studied HFCWC and one RCT20 and one RXO19 investigated IPV.
The characteristics of the included studies are described in Table 1. We could not perform a meta-analysis due to the diversity of the reported outcomes, the limited number of studies per outcome assessments, missing data and heterogeneity among studies design. For all these reasons, the results are presented narratively.
Authors/ Country | Diagnosis | Inclusion Criteria | Age | Male / Female | No. | Intervention | Treatment modalities | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Duration of intervention | Single session duration | Frequency | |||||||
Chaisson, 2006 (RCT)22/ USA | Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis | Adults, 18 years of age or older, diagnosis of ALS or probable ALS, mental capacity to provide informed consent, life expectancy greater than 3 months, institution of NIV within 3 months of study enrolment or at time of study visit 1-based upon the following objective criteria: FVC <50% predicted, PaO2 <50mm Hg, PaCO2 >45 mm Hg, nocturnal SpO2 <88% (either sustained for 5 min or 10% of the monitored time) | EG: 64.0 (4.6)* CG: 53.5 (6.2) | EG: 4/1 CG: 3/1 | 9 | EG: Standard care + HFCWC (frequencies beginning at 5 Hz to a maximum of 20 Hz as tolerated) CG: Standard care (bi-level positive airway pressure) | Until death | 15 min | At least twice per day |
Lange, 2006 (RCT)21/ USA | Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis | Probable or definite ALS with respiratory symptoms, lateral sclerosis functional rating scale respiratory subscale ≤11 | 58.9 (9.7) | EG: 11/11 CG: 10/14 | 46 | EG: HFCWO, pressure between 1–4 and frequency between 10–12 Hz CG: Untreated. | 3 mos. | EG 10–15 min | Twice per day |
Yuan, 2010 (RCT)18/ USA | Cerebral palsy, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, unknown mitochondrial myopathy, unknown myopathy, congenital muscular dystrophy, mitochondrial thymidine kinase 2 deficiency, spinal muscular atrophy type 2, muscle-eye-brain disease, giant axonal neuropathy | >2 years of age, diagnosis of NMD by genotype or muscle biopsy, no acute respiratory distress | EG: 13.4 (3.5) CG: 13.4 (4.4) | EG: 5/2 CG: 4/3 | 23** | EG: HFCWO frequency setting of 12 Hz and machine pressure setting of 4. CG: 2 min each of 6 positions of chest physiotherapy. | 5 mos. | 12 min | 3 times per day |
Toussaint, 2003 (RXO)19/ Belgium | Duchenne muscular dystrophy with tracheotomy | Tracheotomised Duchenne muscular dystrophy patient with long-term ventilation (at least 18 out of 24 hr per day) | 22.2 (3.7) | NA | 8 | T0: Assisted mucus clearance technique using forced expiratory technique and manual assisted cough, with endotracheal suctioning, followed by nebuliser administration of 5 ml of 0.9% sodium chloride solution for 5 min. IPV + sequence were administered during the T0 ( percussion frequency at 120 cycles/min, maximum proximal airway pressure 40 cmH2O) during aerosol administration or IPV-nebuliser administration without IPV; T1: after the T0 treatment, a second session; T2: 45 min after the end of T1, a third session. | 5 days | 3 sequences/ day with 4 hr intervals | |
Reardon, 2005 (RCT)20/ USA | Duchenne muscular dystrophy, spinal muscular dystrophy, spinal cord injury, mitochondrial, osteogenesis imperfecta | Patient with NMD impaired pulmonary function (defined by restrictive physiology with vital capacity < 60% predicted), maximum inspiratory pressure <90 cmH2O, maximum expiratory pressure less than 100 cmH2O | EG: 17 (11–19) *** CG: 17 (14–19) *** | EG: 6/3 CG: 8/1 | 18 | EG: IPV with normal saline solution and percussion frequency of 120 cycles/min, driving pressure set individually at the minimum pressure that induced visible chest oscillations (range: 20 to 40cmH2O). CG: incentive spirometry. | 7 mos. | EG: 10–15 min CG: 5–10 min | Twice per day |
*Statistically significant differences; **randomisation included cerebral palsy and NMD patients; in the table only the results of the sub-group of NMD are reported; ***median (25th-75th percentile); NIV = non-invasive ventilation; CG = control group; EG = experimental group; HFCWC = high frequency chest wall compression; HFCWO = high frequency chest wall oscillation; hr = hour; Hz = hertz; IPV = intrapulmonary percussive ventilation; ml = millilitre; min = minutes; mo. (plural mos) = month-s; NA = not available; NMD = neuromuscular disease; No. = number; RCR = retrospective chart review; RCT = randomised controlled trial; RXO = randomised cross-over study; USA = United States of America.
The results of the studies are displayed in Table 2 and Table 3.
Authors | N | Pre- intervention Mean (SD) | Post- intervention Mean (SD) | Number of events or number of persons | Within group Mean change (SD) | Relative Risk | Mean difference between groups with 95%CI | P- value | Comments | GRADE | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lung volume, capacity | |||||||||||
FVC | |||||||||||
Chaisson (RCT)22 | EG | 5 | 1.93 (0.83) | NA | 4 (2.5) | 0.8 [-2.56, 4.16] | 0.64 | Decline (ml/day) | ⊕◯◯◯ 4, 5, 12, 13, 15 | ||
CG | 4 | 1.70 (0.37) | NA | 3.2 (2.6) | |||||||
Predicted FVC% | |||||||||||
Lange (RCT)21 | EG | 16 | NA | NA | -6.3 (12.27) | -1.2 [-9.70, 7.30] | 0.78 | Decline (%) | ⊕◯◯◯ 4, 5, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15 | ||
CG | 16 | -5.1 (12.27) | |||||||||
Peak expiratory flow | |||||||||||
Lange (RCT)21 | EG | 17 | 253.4 | 275.2 | 21.8 (80.48) | 40 [-16.93, 96.93] | 0.18 | Change L/min; % | ⊕◯◯◯ 4, 5, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15 | ||
CG | 14 | 274.2 | 256 | -18.2 (80.48) | |||||||
Clinical value | |||||||||||
Dyspnoea | |||||||||||
Lange (RCT)21 | EG | 19 | -1.28 (2.58) | -2.12 [-3.83, -0.41] | 0.02 | Borg (1-10) | ⊕◯◯◯ 4, 5, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15 | ||||
CG | 16 | 0.84 (2.58) | |||||||||
Complications | |||||||||||
Hospitalisation | |||||||||||
Chaisson (RCT)22 | EG | 5 | 0 | 0 (NM) | NA | No. of days | ⊕◯◯◯ 2, 4, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 15 | ||||
CG | 4 | 0 | |||||||||
Yuan (RCT)18 | EG | 7 | 0 | 0.20 [0.01, 3.54] | 0.27 | No. of participants requiring hospitalisation/ intravenous antibiotics | |||||
CG | 7 | 2 | |||||||||
Antibiotic use | |||||||||||
Yuan (RCT)18 | EG | 7 | 2 | 0.67 [0.16, 2.84] | 0.58 | No. of participants requiring oral antibiotics | ⊕◯◯◯ 2, 4, 12, 13, 14, 15 | ||||
CG | 7 | 3 | |||||||||
Survival | |||||||||||
Days of survival | |||||||||||
Chaisson (RCT)22 | EG | 5 | 340 (247) | - | - | 0.26 | Analysis done with a log- rank test | ⊕◯◯◯ 5, 12, 13, 15 | |||
CG | 4 | 470 (241) | |||||||||
Quality of life | |||||||||||
Lange (RCT)21 | EG | 19 | 47.40% | 9 | RR: 1.52 [0.64, 3.61] | 0.33 | Proportion showing worsening | ⊕◯◯◯ 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 | |||
Standing difficult | CG | 16 | 31.30% | 5 | |||||||
Arm use impaired | EG | 19 | 36.80% | 7 | RR: 1.47 [0.52, 4.14] | 0.45 | |||||
CG | 16 | 25% | 4 | ||||||||
Difficult to eat | EG | 19 | 26.30% | 5 | RR: 0.60 [0.24, 1.53] | 0.28 | |||||
CG | 16 | 43.70% | 7 | ||||||||
Speech hard to understand | EG | 19 | 21.10% | 4 | RR: 0.56 [0.19, 1.65] | 0.28 | |||||
CG | 16 | 37.50% | 6 | ||||||||
Hopeless about the future | EG | 19 | 36.80% | 7 | RR: 0.74 [0.34, 1.58] | 0.43 | |||||
CG | 16 | 50% | 8 |
Italics stand for calculated value; *Result expressed in median (25th-75th percentile); 95% CI = 95% confidence interval; CG = control group; EG = experimental group; GRADE = grading of recommendations assessment development and evaluation; IQR = interquartile range; L = litre; min = minutes; ml = millilitre; NA = not available; NM = not measurable; No. = number; NS = not significant; P = P-value; Post = post-intervention; Pre = pre-intervention; QoL = quality of life; RCR = retrospective chart review; RCT = randomised controlled trial; RR = relative risk; RXO = randomised cross-over study; SD = standard deviation;1 = Studies are retrospective and do not have a control group, so no randomisation and no concealment; 2 = Randomisation was not or probably not concealed; 3 = The study did not analyse the results in the intention-to-treat; 4 = Assessors, care givers or patients were not blinded; 5 = An important proportion of patients were lost to follow up; 6 = Difference in the effect size can be due to inconsistency in the method; 7 = Difference in the effect size can be due to inconsistency in age between groups; 8 = Difference in the effect size can be due to inconsistency in the difference of treatment intensity; 9 = Indirect because of inadequate comparison or no comparison group; 10 = Indirectness in the intervention, short duration of the treatment; 11 = Indirectness due to indirect outcome of interest for the quality of life; 12 = The studies are composed of small sample size (between 9 and 46 participants) or small number of events; 13 = The confidence interval is wide; 14 = Results are not fully reported; 15 = Conflict of interest exists due to material donation from an industry, sponsoring by an industry or the fact that an author is employed by an industry.
GRADE level of certainty of the evidence: ⊕⊕⊕⊕ = high certainty of the evidence, ⊕⊕⊕◯ = moderate certainty of the evidence; ⊕⊕◯◯ = low certainty of the evidence, ⊕◯◯◯ = very low certainty of the evidence.
Authors | N | Pre- intervention Mean (SD) or Median (IQR) | Post- intervention Mean (SD) or Median (IQR) | Within group change (SD) or % of change | Incidence rate ratio | Mean difference between groups with 95% CI | P value | Comments | GRADE | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lung volume, capacity | ||||||||||
Total lung capacity | ||||||||||
Reardon (RCT)20 | EG | 9 | 3.1 (NA)* | 3.1 (NA)* | 0 (NM)* | -0.5 (NM)* | Change between groups: P = NA; Between groups Post: P = NS | Negative value = decline in total lung capacity (L) | ⊕◯◯◯ 2, 4, 12, 14 | |
CG | 9 | 3.2 (NA)* | 2.7 (NA)* | -0.5 (NM) * | ||||||
Predicted FVC % | ||||||||||
Reardon (RCT)20 | EG | 9 | 36 (NA)* | 38 (NA)* | 2% | 2 (NM)* | Change between groups: P = NA; Between groups Post: P = NS | % | ⊕◯◯◯ 2, 4, 12, 14 | |
CG | 9 | 35 (NA)* | 39 (NA)* | 4% | ||||||
Predicted FEV1 % | ||||||||||
Reardon (RCT)20 | EG | 9 | 49 (NA)* | 42 (NA)* | -7% | -7 (NM)* | Change between groups: P = NA; Between groups Post: P = NS | % | ⊕◯◯◯ 2, 4, 12, 14 | |
CG | 9 | 42 (NA)* | 42 (NA)* | 0% | ||||||
Peak expiratory flow | ||||||||||
Toussaint (RXO)19 | EG | 8 | 65.1 (22.9) | 5.8 [-4.45, 16.05] | 0.27 | L/min | ⊕◯◯◯ 2, 4, 9, 10, 12, 13 | |||
CG | 8 | 59.3 (22.4) | ||||||||
Maximum expiratory pressure | ||||||||||
Reardon (RCT)20 | EG | 9 | 32 (NA)* | 37 (NA)* | 5 (NM)* | 4 (NM)* | Change between groups: P = NA; Between groups Post: P = NS | cmH2O; Higher value = better performance | ⊕◯◯◯ 2, 4, 12, 14 | |
CG | 9 | 36 (NA)* | 45 (NA)* | 9 (NM)* | ||||||
Maximum inspiratory pressure | ||||||||||
Reardon (RCT)20 | EG | 9 | -36 (NA)* | -47 (NA)* | -11 (NM)* | -23 (NM)* | Change between groups: P = NA; Between groups Post: P = NS | cmH2O; More negative result is better performance | ⊕◯◯◯ 2, 4, 12, 14 | |
CG | 9 | -12 (NA)* | -46 (NA)* | -34 (NM)* | ||||||
Complications | ||||||||||
Hospitalisation | ||||||||||
Reardon (RCT)20 | EG | 9 | 0/1000 | 8.5 [1.1-67] | NA | Patient-days | ⊕◯◯◯ 2, 4, 12, 13, 14 | |||
CG | 9 | 4.4/1000 | ||||||||
Respiratory infection | ||||||||||
Reardon (RCT)20 | EG | 9 | 0/1000 | 3.9 [0.43-35] | NS | Patient-days | ⊕◯◯◯ 2, 4, 12, 13, 14 | |||
CG | 9 | 1,7/1000 | ||||||||
Antibiotic use | ||||||||||
Reardon (RCT)20 | EG | 9 | 0/1000 | 43 [6-333] | NA | Patient-days | ⊕◯◯◯ 2, 4, 12, 13, 14 | |||
CG | 9 | 24/1000 |
Italics stand for calculated value; *Result expressed in median (25th-75th percentile); 95% CI = 95% confidence interval; CG = control group; EG = experimental group; GRADE = grading of recommendations assessment development and evaluation; IQR = interquartile range; L = litre; NA = not available; NM = not measurable; NS = not significant; P = P-value; Post = post-intervention; Pre = pre-intervention; RCT = randomised controlled trial; RXO = randomised cross-over study; SD = standard deviation; 1 = Studies are retrospective and do not have a control group, so no randomisation and no concealment; 2 = Randomisation was not or probably not concealed; 3 = The study did not analyse the results in the intention-to-treat; 4 = Assessors, care givers or patients were not blinded; 5 = An important proposition of patients were lost to follow up; 6 = Difference in the effect size can be due to inconsistency in the method; 7 = Difference in the effect size can be due to inconsistency in age between groups; 8 = Difference in the effect size can be due to inconsistency in the difference of treatment intensity; 9 = Indirect because of inadequate comparison or no comparison group; 10 = Indirectness in the intervention; short duration of the treatment; 11 = Indirectness due to indirect outcome of interest for the quality of life; 12 = The studies are composed of small sample size (between 9 and 46 participants) or small number of events; 13 = The confidence interval is wide; 14 = Results are not fully reported; 15 = Conflict of interest exists due to material donation from an industry, sponsoring by an industry or the fact that an author is employed by an industry.GRADE level of certainty of the evidence: ⊕⊕⊕⊕ = high certainty of the evidence, ⊕⊕⊕◯ = moderate certainty of the evidence; ⊕⊕◯◯ = low certainty of the evidence, ⊕◯◯◯ = very low certainty of the evidence.
Lung volume, capacity and HFCWC. For the FVC (1 RCT), we were unable to find evidence against the Null-Hypothesis that HFCWC is equal to the standard care in the rate of decline (mean difference (MD) of 0.8 ml/day in favour of standard care with a 95% CI [-2.56, 4.16])22.
One RCT21 assessed the predicted FVC (%) and we failed to find evidence against the Null-Hypothesis that HFCWC is equal to the untreated group in the rate of decline (MD: -1.2% in favour of HFCWC with a 95% CI [-9.70, 7.30]; P = .78). HFCWC may not improve predicted FVC compared to the untreated group. Indeed, the minimal clinically important change estimated in people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is between 2% and 6%23.
The peak expiratory flow rate, evaluated in one RCT21, showed no statistically significant difference between the HFCWC group and the untreated group (MD: 40 L/min in favour of HFCWC with a 95% CI [-16.93, 96.93], P = .18).
There was a very low quality of evidence (GRADE) For the three outcome measures mentioned above for HFCWC.
Lung volume, capacity and IPV. One RCT20 assessed the total lung capacity and the difference between IPV and incentive spirometry post-intervention (0.5L in favour of IPV) was not statistically significant.
In the predicted FVC (%), they were unable to find evidence against the Null-Hypothesis that IPV is equal to incentive spirometry post-intervention (1% in favour of standard care)20. The difference of 1% is lower than the minimal clinically important difference estimated in people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis between 2% and 6%23.
The difference between IPV and standard care post-intervention for the predicted FEV1(%) (0%) was not statistically significant20.
The peak expiratory flow rate was examined in one RXO study19. We were unable to find evidence against the Null-Hypothesis that the treatment sequence with IPV is equal to without IPV (5.8L/min with a 95% CI [-4.45, 16.05], P= .27).
The difference between IPV and standard care in the maximum expiratory pressure post-intervention (8 cmH2O in favour of standard care), and the maximum inspiratory pressure (-1 cmH2O in favour of standard care) were not statistically significant20.
The body of evidence of the five outcomes presented for IPV were rated very low.
Clinical value and HFCWC. The data on arterial blood gases and mortality rate were not available.
Dyspnoea and HFCWC. One study21 assessed dyspnoea, and we found evidence against the Null-Hypothesis that HFCWC is not equal to the untreated groups (MD: -2.12 in favour of HFCWC with a with a 95% CI [-3.83, -0.41]; P= .02). This effect is higher than the minimal clinically important change estimated at 0.8 in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with acute exacerbation24.
Complications and HFCWC. There was no difference in the number of hospitalisation days between the HFCWC and the usual care groups (0 events in both groups) in one study22. The difference in the relative risk of requiring hospitalisation and intravenous antibiotics was 80% lower in the HFCWC group than the standard care group, but statistically not significant (RR: 0.20 with a 95% CI [0.01, 3.54])19. The relative risk of requiring oral antibiotics was 33% lower in the HFCWC group than in the standard care group (RR: 0.67 with a 95% [0.16, 2.84]), but statistically not significant18.
There was very low quality of evidence (GRADE) for the two outcomes dyspnea and complications.
Complications and IPV. One RCT20 assessed hospitalisation and observed more days of hospitalisation for respiratory reasons in the standard care group than the IPV group, although the lower limit of the CI was close to 1 (IRR: 8.5 with a 95% CI [1.1-67]).
Three events of pulmonary infection (pneumonias or bacterial bronchitis) were observed in the standard care group, whereas the IPV group had no events (IRR: 3.9 with a 95% CI [0.43-35], P= NS). The number of days of using antibiotics was significantly higher in the standard care groups than the IPV group (IRR: 43 with a 95% CI [6-333])20.
Survival and HFCWC. One RCT with nine patients22 found 340±247 days of survival for the HFCWC group and 470±241 days of survival for the standard care. This difference was not statistically significant (P = .26) and there were only five patients in the HFCWC group and four in the standard care group.
Quality of life and HFCWC. Lange et al. (2006) studied the proportion of worsened QoL21. The five sub-categories of QoL assessment showed inconsistent results in terms of relative risk, but none were statistically significant (Table 2).
A very low quality of evidence was considered in the outcome of complications, survival, and quality of life.
Based on this systematic review, 104 patients in five randomised studies, including the diagnoses amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (two studies) or Duchenne muscular dystrophy (three studies, two of them with a mix of other neuromuscular diagnoses), we can report the following main findings: there is very low certainty of evidence that A) HFCWC is not superior to standard care for lung capacity, lung volume, antibiotic use, quality of life, and survival rate, B) HFCWC is superior to standard care for perception of dyspnoea, C) IPV is not superior to standard care for lung capacity, lung volume, and the risk of respiratory infection, and D) IPV is superior to standard care for the reduction of hospitalisation rate and number of days of antibiotic use.
Differences from protocol: We added the assessment of peak expiratory flow because we considered it a relevant information. In addition, we did not exclude a study if it did not contain lung function assessment, as we would have lost important articles responding to our secondary outcomes. We also decided to exclude non-randomised controlled trials.
This review has some limitations. First, it is possible that we missed unpublished studies, or studies that were only published in languages other than English and in journals not listed in the searched databases or the clinical trial registries. Because of the low number of studies, we were not able to evaluate the risk of a small study effect or a publication bias. Second, it is known that the reliability of the risk of bias tool is not very high and other authors might come to different conclusions regarding risk of bias of the include studies.
There are limitations regarding the included studies. First, the included studies were very small, had a high risk of bias, and it was not possible to perform a meta-analysis. Therefore, we only have very low confidence in our results, given the downgrading in the GRADE rating because of very serious risk of bias, serious inconsistency and very serious statistical imprecision25. Second, our research question was the effects of HFCWC and IPV on lung volume and capacity as a result of secretions mobilisation. Airway clearance measurement trough sputum weight is inappropriate due to day-to day variability, as well as variability during the day and the fact that secretions can be swallowed26. Therefore, our primary outcomes were lung volume and capacity as it is often used in the literature as an outcome for airway clearance and to assess the progression of the disease in patient with NMD. Many trials have reported that the use of lung function parameters is questionable because of the lack of observed changes8. Jones et al. (2006) suggest that lung function parameters are insensitive in assessing the acute effects of airway clearance techniques27. In addition, van der Schans (2002) reports that lung function measurement does not appear to reflect differences in mucus transport or mucus expectoration28. Thus, the ineffectiveness of the two interventions might be influenced by the inefficacy of lung function to assess airway clearance. The lack of significant results could be influenced by the inefficiency of lung function to assess airway clearance.
The results of studies using IPV and HFCWC for other pathologies show similarities and differences as compared with our results. Reychler et al. (2018) have performed a systematic review and compared IPV with other airway clearance techniques. They found a reduction in the duration of hospitalisation and have observed an improvement in gas exchange only during the exacerbation phase in patients with chronic obstructive airway disease. In patients with cystic fibrosis, no difference was observed in the static and dynamic lung volume29. Cough is usually not impaired in patients with chronic obstructive airway disease and cystic fibrosis, thus potentially explaining the contrasting results.
In a recent publication, Chatwin et al. (2018)3 highlight that airway clearance such as IPV and HFCWC depend on a normal cough to clear proximal airway. In patients with NMD, these interventions may be ineffective if not combined with cough augmentation technique or device. To our knowledge, no studies investigated the combination of a secretion mobilisation device such as IPV and HFCWC with cough augmentation technique or device.
Our review differs from previous ones in that we included only patients with NMD treated either with HFCWC or IPV. We could include additional studies18,20,21, but we still can only report very low certainty of evidence for or against the use of HFCWC or IPV for airway clearance. In one study, patients in the HFCWC groups showed substantial but statistically not significant fewer survival days compared to the standard care, which was in this case bilevel positive airway pressure. There are no other studies in any type of patients, to our knowledge, that reported increased mortality for patients treated with HFCWC. Therefore, we strongly believe that this decreased survival time in the mentioned study should not be overrated, but future studies should monitor mortality under HFCWC.
Future studies should include larger sample sizes in multi-centre trials involving international collaborations and should avoid risk of bias. The comparison treatment should avoid using a ‘no treatment’ group, and the intervention should be described precisely to facilitate comparison with other studies. We invite researchers to focus on the effects of combined treatments, such as secretion mobilisation interventions with cough augmentation technique, manual cough techniques or mechanical insufflation-exsufflation. We further encourage researchers to investigate more reliable, sensitive and patient-relevant outcome measures to assess the effects of airway clearance techniques.
In this systematic review we explored the effects of IPV and HFCWC, compared with standard care, and found no effects on lung volume and capacity, and QoL. HFCWC might decrease the perception of dyspnoea but shows no difference in the development of complications and survival. Treatment with IPV, compared with control treatment, appears to reduce the number of hospitalisation days and to lessen the need for antibiotics, but no difference was observed regarding the respiratory infection rate.
The certainty of evidence of these results is very low, and all studies presented high risk of bias. The implementation of these interventions in clinical practice should be further evaluated in clinical trials. We invite future studies to improve on these aspects, to explore the effects of combined treatments and to investigate more reliable, sensitive, and patient-relevant outcome measure.
This review was not supported financially.
All data underlying the results are available as part of the article and no additional source data are required.
Dryad: A systematic review on the effects of high frequency chest wall compression and intrapulmonary percussive ventilation in patients with neuromuscular disease, https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.n8pk0p2tj27
This project contains the following extended data:
Dryad: PRISMA checklist for ‘A systematic review on the effects of high frequency chest wall compression and intrapulmonary percussive ventilation in patients with neuromuscular disease’, https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.n8pk0p2tj30
Data are available under the terms of the Creative Commons Zero "No rights reserved" data waiver (CC0 1.0 Public domain dedication).
We would like to thank Elodie Glerum for proofreading the article and Martin Sattelmayer for designing the graphs.
Views | Downloads | |
---|---|---|
F1000Research | - | - |
PubMed Central
Data from PMC are received and updated monthly.
|
- | - |
Are the rationale for, and objectives of, the Systematic Review clearly stated?
Yes
Are sufficient details of the methods and analysis provided to allow replication by others?
Yes
Is the statistical analysis and its interpretation appropriate?
Yes
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the results presented in the review?
Yes
If this is a Living Systematic Review, is the ‘living’ method appropriate and is the search schedule clearly defined and justified? (‘Living Systematic Review’ or a variation of this term should be included in the title.)
Not applicable
References
1. Finkel RS, Mercuri E, Meyer OH, Simonds AK, et al.: Diagnosis and management of spinal muscular atrophy: Part 2: Pulmonary and acute care; medications, supplements and immunizations; other organ systems; and ethics.Neuromuscul Disord. 2018; 28 (3): 197-207 PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full TextCompeting Interests: No competing interests were disclosed.
Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed.
Reviewer Expertise: clinical epidemiology
Are the rationale for, and objectives of, the Systematic Review clearly stated?
Yes
Are sufficient details of the methods and analysis provided to allow replication by others?
Partly
Is the statistical analysis and its interpretation appropriate?
Yes
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the results presented in the review?
Yes
Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed.
Reviewer Expertise: clinical epidemiology
Are the rationale for, and objectives of, the Systematic Review clearly stated?
Yes
Are sufficient details of the methods and analysis provided to allow replication by others?
Partly
Is the statistical analysis and its interpretation appropriate?
Partly
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the results presented in the review?
Yes
Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed.
Reviewer Expertise: Systematic review and Respiratory physiotherapy
Alongside their report, reviewers assign a status to the article:
Invited Reviewers | |||
---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | |
Version 2 (revision) 21 Jun 22 |
read | read | |
Version 1 08 Jan 21 |
read | read |
Provide sufficient details of any financial or non-financial competing interests to enable users to assess whether your comments might lead a reasonable person to question your impartiality. Consider the following examples, but note that this is not an exhaustive list:
Sign up for content alerts and receive a weekly or monthly email with all newly published articles
Already registered? Sign in
The email address should be the one you originally registered with F1000.
You registered with F1000 via Google, so we cannot reset your password.
To sign in, please click here.
If you still need help with your Google account password, please click here.
You registered with F1000 via Facebook, so we cannot reset your password.
To sign in, please click here.
If you still need help with your Facebook account password, please click here.
If your email address is registered with us, we will email you instructions to reset your password.
If you think you should have received this email but it has not arrived, please check your spam filters and/or contact for further assistance.
Comments on this article Comments (0)