• Erik H J Hulzebos, Nico L U van Meeteren, Bram J W M van den Buijs, Rob A de Bie, A Brutel de la Rivière, and Paul J M Helders.
• Section Rehabilitation, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands. h.hulzebos@umcutrecht.nl
• Clin Rehabil. 2006 Nov 1;20(11):949-59.

ObjectiveTo determine in a pilot study the feasibility and effects of preoperative inspiratory muscle training in patients at high risk of postoperative pulmonary complications who were scheduled for coronary artery bypass graft surgery.DesignSingle-blind, randomized controlled pilot study.SettingUniversity Medical Centre Utrecht, the Netherlands.SubjectsTwenty-six patients at high risk of postoperative pulmonary complications were selected.InterventionThe intervention group (N = 14) received 2-4 weeks of preoperative inspiratory muscle training on top of the usual care received by the patients in the control group.Main MeasuresPrimary outcome variables of feasibility were the occurrence of adverse events, and patient satisfaction and motivation. Secondary outcome variables were postoperative pulmonary complications and length of hospital stay.ResultsThe feasibility of inspiratory muscle training was good and no adverse events were observed. Treatment satisfaction and motivation, scored on 10-point scales, were 7.9 (+/- 0.7) and 8.2 (+/- 1.0), respectively. Postoperative atelectasis occurred in significantly fewer patients in the intervention group than in the control group (kappa(2)(DF1) = 3.85; P = 0.05): Length of hospital stay was 7.93 (+/- 1.94) days in the intervention group and 9.92 (+/- 5.78) days in the control group (P = 0.24).ConclusionInspiratory muscle training for 2-4 weeks before coronary artery bypass graft surgery was well tolerated by patients at risk of postoperative pulmonary complications and prevented the occurrence of atelectasis in these patients. A larger randomized clinical trial is warranted.

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