sir, we read with interest bousarri et al.’s article which has been recently published in your journal under the title “the effect of expiratory rib cage compression before endotracheal suctioning on the vital signs in patients under mechanical ventilation.”[1] while the article is potentially of interest to readers, there are several aspects that need attention. first of all, it concerns us th...

OBJECTIVES Patients unable to perform breathing functions may be submitted to invasive mechanical ventilation. Chest physiotherapy acts directly on the treatment of these patients for the purpose of improving their lung function. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of manual rib-cage compression versus the positive end expiratory pressure-zero end expiratory pressure (PEEP-Z...

1. Bousarri MP, Shirvani Y, Agha‐Hassan‐Kashani S, Nasab NM. The effect of expiratory rib cage compression before endotracheal suctioning on the vital signs in patients under mechanical ventilation. Iran J Nurs Midwifery Res 2014;19:285‐9. 2. Kohan M, Rezaei‐Adaryani M, Najaf‐Yarandi A, Hoseini F, Mohammad‐Taheri N. Effects of expiratory ribcage compression before endotracheal suctioning on art...

BACKGROUND Expiratory rib-cage compression, a chest physiotherapy technique, is well known as the "squeezing" technique in Japan. OBJECTIVE To determine the effects of rib-cage compression on airway-secretion removal, oxygenation, and ventilation in patients receiving mechanical ventilation. SETTING An intensive care unit of an emergency and critical care center at a tertiary-care teaching ...

In Reply: We thank Dr Martí and his colleagues for their comments on our study. The different methods used to investigate the clinical and physiological repercussions of airway clearance techniques make comparison between studies difficult. Animal studies like those from Unoki et al1,2 and Martí et al3 are important to elucidate mechanisms and raise insights into safety and efficacy of clinical...

We measured pressures and power of diaphragm, rib cage, and abdominal muscles during quiet breathing (QB) and exercise at 0, 30, 50, and 70% maximum workload (Wmax) in five men. By three-dimensional tracking of 86 chest wall markers, we calculated the volumes of lung- and diaphragm-apposed rib cage compartments (Vrc,p and Vrc,a, respectively) and the abdomen (Vab). End-inspiratory lung volume i...