Pulmonary Rehabilitation after Stroke

Abstract

AbstractRespiratory dysfunction is a common complication following a stroke; however, the pulmonary rehabilitation of stroke patients has not been heavily emphasized until recently. PUBMED databases were searched systematically (since inception to December 2016) using the following search terms: “stroke” in Title/Abstract and “pulmonary rehabilitation” in all field. Articles published in a language other than English excluded. The original search yielded 404 articles, of which 57 articles were included in this systematic review. After a stroke, the respiratory center and related motor pathways can directly decrease respiratory muscle strength and subsequently induce a change in breathing patterns. As a result, pneumonia, pulmonary ventilation disorders, lung injury, lung ischemia reperfusion injury, decreased pulmonary compliance, abnormal posture, and obstructive sleep apnea can occur following a stroke. Thus, pulmonary rehabilitation is critical to reducing these complications. The main forms of pulmonary rehabilitation include exercise training, respiratory muscle training, oxygen therapy, noninvasive ventilation, nutrition support, social psychological support, and health education.Although pulmonary rehabilitation has become a definitive therapy of chronic respiratory diseases, the mechanisms of pulmonary rehabilitation, including the specific methods used for stroke patients requires further investigation. To provide some useful information for clinicians on treating respiratory dysfunction, we reviewed the type of stroke-related respiratory dysfunction and pulmonary rehabilitation methods in our manuscript.