Pursed-lip breathing in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a literature review

Abstract

This review aimed at standing out the main findings published in the last ten years on the effects of pursed-lip breathing (PLB) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The search for articles was performed in Lilacs, IBECS, MEDLINE, and SciELO database by using the descriptors of health (DeCS): doença pulmonar obstrutiva crônica, reabilitação, respiração, hiperinsuflação e dispneia, and their respective versions in the English language (MeSH), the term pursed-lip breathing was also in such list. After removing the repeated titles, only studies addressing PLB as the main theme were selected, resulting in 12 papers, 10 clinical trials, and 2 systematic reviews. According to the findings, the PLB provides: changes on arterial gases, which are characterized by increased oxygen saturation and partial pressure of oxygen; ventilatory pattern with decreased respiratory rate and increased expiratory time and tidal volume; respiratory mechanics, by recruiting the expiratory abdominal muscles and muscles of the rib cage and accessories inspired; decrease in oxygen consumption; alterations in cardiac autonomic modulation induced by increase in parasympathetic activity and, ultimately, improved quality of life of these patients. The PLB is considered a maneuver of great importance to have a positive effect on various systems and on the quality of life of patients with COPD.