Manual hyperinflation in airway clearance in pediatric patients: a systematic review.

Objective: To perform an assessment of the available literature on manual hyperinflation as a respiratory physical therapy technique used in pediatric patients, with the main outcome of achieving airway clearance.

Methods: We reviewed articles included in the Lilacs (Latin American and Caribbean Literature on Health Sciences/Literatura Latino Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde), Cochrane Library, Medline (via Virtual Health Library and PubMed), SciELO (Scientific Electronic Library), and PEDro (Physiotherapy Evidence Database) databases from 2002 to 2013 using the following search terms: "physiotherapy (techniques)", "respiratory therapy", "intensive care", and "airway clearance". The selected studies were classified according to the level of evidence and grades of recommendation (method of the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine) by two examiners, while a third examiner repeated the search and analysis and checked the classification of the articles.

I Brazilian guidelines for respiratory physiotherapy in pediatric and neonatal intensive care units.

Developing guidelines for the role of the physiotherapist in neonatal and pediatric intensive care units is essential because these professionals are responsible for the rehabilitation of critically ill patients. Rehabilitation includes the evaluation and prevention of functional kinetic alterations, application of treatment interventions (respiratory and/or motor physiotherapy), control and application of medical gases, care of mechanical ventilation, weaning and extubation, tracheal gas insufflation, inflation/deflation of the endotracheal cuff protocol, and surfactant application, aiming to allow patients to have a full recovery and return to their functional activities. In this article, we present guidelines that are intended to guide the physiotherapist in some of the prevention/treatment interventions in respiratory therapy (airway clearance, lung expansion, position in bed, airway suction, drug inhalation, and cough assist), which help in the rehabilitation process of newborns and children in intensive care units during mechanical ventilation and up to 12 hours following extubation.