Bronchial Hygiene Therapy Process - Essay Example

Bronchial Hygiene

Introduction

Bronchial hygiene is a diverse and broad terminology that encompasses several therapies aimed at clearing and making clean the airway, the respiratory tube. It involves several activities that apply to different conditions and with different patients. Manual cough is one way which is used to emit secretions and maintain a clear breathing tube. (Goodfellow & Jones, 2002) tells that this happens by the assistance of a helper who holds the patient in a particular specified position, which allows them to both manual coughs and can discharge secretions. The therapist, too, may give the patient manual ventilation in their abdomen by placing hands over them.

However, the self-manual cough, glossopharyngeal breathing, postural drainage, and suctioning are other means of performing Bronchial hygiene therapy. According to (Robert Kacmarek, 2019), there existed various traditional ways through which such activities were done, as discussed. Still, modern means such as the use of various modified equipment have been adopted for the same. Bronchial hygiene therapy is a critical and operative in the event where a patient is given proper care and suitable modalities. There exist several variable bronchial hygiene modalities with some indications, contraindications, and applications that differ significantly.

Indications

The term indication in medicine is used to drive the meaning of a particular drug, or therapy is meant to be used in the treatment of a specific specified disease or condition. Therefore, if the use treats a particular drug's illness, then that disease is an indication of that drug and inversely that medication is indicated to treat that disease. Generally, Bronchial hygiene therapy is meant to work for patients with acute respiratory problems. In the perception of (Peruzzi & Smith, 1995), These problems may cause copious secretions. They include; Cystic fibrosis, Bronchiectasis, Ciliary dyskinetic syndromes, Chronic bronchitis, COPD, and Pneumonia. It should be understood that the primary target of performing this form of therapy is to ensure ease in gaseous exchange as well as reduce the struggle that may arise to patients in the case of a blocked breathing system.

The use of bronchial hygiene therapy is done to both short and long term but for different reasons. In the case of short-term usage, the main target is usually to reduce the work of breathing as well as improving the mode of gaseous exchange. Through this, it helps the patient not to be a victim of respiratory complications. However, (Peruzzi & Smith, 1995) purports that the same therapy has a long-term goal of ensuring that the patient does not develop respiratory deformities in the aftermath. The patient is also expected to have gone through this therapy to go back to a normally functioning person, especially in the breathing and respiration sector. Therefore, bronchial treatment is a tool that serves to help a patient now and later.

The indications of these therapies are stemmed and rooted in the detailed analysis of a patient’s pathophysiology, which enables proper evidence. For a patient to be indicated for this therapy, they must at least have one of the two most signs. One of these is the excessive production of sputum. If a patient produces more or equal to 12 teaspoons of sputum or an equivalent amount in other measures such as half a cup, they may require the use of bronchial therapy. However, anything lesser would serve to show that the treatment should not be indicated. On the other side, a patient who establish signs of an ineffective cough, usually calls for the indication of this therapy as told by (Goodfellow & Jones, 2002). This condition may be so due to a patient being generally weak or having some pain while coughing. The use of this therapy has no much assistance for patients who have Asthma. Similarly, pulmonary embolism and pulmonary edema are essential things to be considered when administering bronchial hygiene therapy.

CPT Vest Therapy

This special type of bronchial hygiene therapy involves the use of an inflated vest. This type of Chest Physical Therapy is done systematically by connecting the vest to a machine that vibrates it at a very high frequency. The vibrating vest helps in simultaneously vibrating the patient's chest. This form of physically inducing chest vibrations causes the mucus in the lungs to loosen up and eventually come out. The target is usually to remove mucus from the lungs. During this physical therapy, the patient is expected to sit upright and the vest to be fitted on the patient’s body cozily. However, the use of this vest should involve the help of a caregiver or a chest therapist. The therapy is relevant to patients who have difficulty in coughing out the mucus in their lungs.

Contraindications

Contraindication is a specified situation under which a particular form of medication or treatment, such as the use of a specific drug, therapy, or surgery, cannot apply to patients following the fact that it may be harmful. In the medicine world, there exist two types of contraindications; relative contraindication and absolute contraindication. (Robert Kacmarek, 2019) states that the relative contraindication usually requires that the medic take caution since the benefits of using a precise procedure or drug may be more than the risks. Conversely, absolute contraindication refers to a complete denial of the usage of a particular drug or process since it poses a difficult situation for the patient. Usually, relative contraindication comes when using two drugs or procedures together, such as aspirin and warfarin.

In the case of bronchial hygiene therapy, several contraindications exist. According to (Elhabashy, 2016), the first is the patient's ability to transmit their disease by coughing droplets such as a patient with tuberculosis. Performing the therapy under such conditions is both dangerous to the medic and anyone else who may contact the droplets. The hospital then limits the use of these therapies bearing in mind that it may lead to even more infections, which makes it a contraindication for this issue. Similarly, elevated intracranial pressure or known intracranial aneurysm may limit the use of bronchial hygiene therapies. This condition is severe and may even lead to death when such procedures are used on the patient.

Injuries too may limit the use of bronchial hygiene therapy, especially when they are in areas such as the neck, head, or spine, which are sensitive both for the process and for respiration. Consequently, even though the doctor might want the patient to have the therapy applied, the availability of severe injuries in these areas my inhibit the procedure. Therefore, this, too, becomes a significant contraindication for people requiring bronchial hygiene therapy. Regurgitation, or rather an aspiration, is another contraindication. (Elhabashy, 2016) explains that this involves the case where the patient is unconscious and has unprotected airway. This may also limit medics from exercising the bronchial hygiene therapies since it may contain underlying but unknown risks to the patient.

There are other contraindications for bronchial hygiene therapy that may not be discussed in full due to the nature of their complexity. However, the use of these procedures may also be inhibited by the presence of reduced coronary artery perfusion, such as in acute myocardial infarction, raw pneumothorax, a bleeding diathesis, severe abdominal pathology, abdominal aortic aneurysm, hiatal hernia, or pregnancy and finally osteoporosis. All these limits the use of bronchial hygiene therapies on a patient.

Contraindications for CPT Vest Therapy

CPT Vest Therapy should not be administered to a patient with three main types of conditions. The first and most obvious is the availability of rib fractures on the patient. If a patient is suffering from rib injuries, it would not be appropriate to administer this form of bronchial hygiene since it would hurt him/her. Secondly, a patient who has osteoporosis. This is a condition where a client has very weak bones that may break upon simple activities like coughing. The vibration would lead to more harm than good since it may break the patient's bones. Similarly, a patient who has recently been diagnosed with Recent hemoptysis may be unfit to undertake the CPT Vest Therapy, considering that the mentioned condition involves coughing blood as a result of lung injuries. Conducting this type of physical therapy would lead the patient to suffer even more from lung injuries.

Conclusion

In inference, bronchial hygiene therapy is a necessary process that assists patients with difficulties in the respiration system to clear secretions. Several techniques to perform these therapies have been put in place, and new ways have consequently replaced the traditional methods. Several indications for these therapies exist and are the only situations when the use of these activities can be beneficial. However, it goes without saying that for such a strict procedure, several contraindications exist too. Hospitals and healthcare institutions should strive to adopt secure and affordable means of advocating bronchial hygiene therapies securely to the right patients under their care.