Management of bronchial secretions with Free Aspire in children with cerebral palsy: impact on clinical outcomes and healthcare resources.

Background: Management of secretions in children with cerebral palsy is often problematic due to severe deformation of the rib cage, impaired cough, and patients'inability to collaborate with chest physiotherapy. Assessing the effectiveness of different methods and techniques of secretion clearance is hampered by the lack of direct outcome measures and by limited patient cooperation. This observational study was planned to evaluate the efficacy of Free Aspire, a device that utilizes a special method to remove secretions from the bronchial tree in hypersecretive patients.

Pulmonary rehabilitation at home guided by telemonitoring and access to healthcare facilities for respiratory complications in patients with neuromuscular disease.

Background: Pulmonary complications are the main cause of morbidity and mortality in neuromuscular patients. Aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a home follow-up program combining telemonitoring and chest physiotherapy (CPT) in preventing acute respiratory episodes.

Design: Prospective observational study in a period of 24 months, and comparison with preintervention data of the same patients.