The Effects of Breathing Exercise with Intermittent Positive Pressure Ventilator on Pulmonary Function in Patients with Cervical Spinal Cord Injury

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of pulmonary function through intermittent positive pressure ventilator(IPPV) exercises in the patients with spinal cord injury. Methods In order to demonstrate the effect of the study that IPPV group(n=13) and pursed lips breathing(PLB) group(n =11) and general physical therapy(GPT) group(n=9) were randomly assigned to proceed with the study. Measurements of pulmonary function were used CadioTouch3000S(BIONET). The participants were assessed before and after the intervention conducted for 8-weeks. Results The results of this study were as follows. In the forced vital capacity(FVC), forced expiratory volume 1 second(FEV1), FEV1/FVC, peak expiratory flow(PEF), IPPV group showed a significant difference preand post-training(p<.05). In the FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC, PEF, PLB group showed a did not significant difference pre and post-training(p>.05). In the PEF, GPT group showed a significant difference(p <.05), but in the FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC showed a did not significant difference preand post-training(p>.05). Conclusion In conclusion of this study, cervical spinal cord injury patients who performed breathing exercise through IPPV showed effective results to improve pulmonary functions.