Abstract:

Introduction: Heart failure (HF) is a clinical syndrome of a systemic character, defined as cardiac dysfunction that causes supreme blood supply to behave as metabolic tissue needs. Objective: To compare the effects of linear pressure resistor (LPR) and respiratory volume incentive (RVI) as inspiratory muscle training (IMT) in patients with heart failure (HF) in a cardiac rehabilitation (CR) program. Methods and Materials: Randomized clinical trial conducted at the Cardiac Rehabilitation Clinic, with 18 patients diagnosed with HF, divided between the LPR+CR Group (n=9) and the RVI+CR Group (n=9). Both groups performed 20 min of IMT and 20 min of CR, three times weekly, for eight weeks. Meta group (n=9) was established, consisting of patients who were discharged from the physical therapy treatment, but continued in CR accompanied by Physical Education professionals. Respiratory muscle strength, pulmonary function, dyspnea, fatigue, and NYHA functional class were evaluated. Results: In the intragroup analysis after 8 weeks, the LPR+CR and RVI+CR groups improved respiratory muscle strength, pulmonary function through FEV1, fatigue and functional class. Meta group, after 8 weeks, increased only MIP. In comparison between IMT and Meta, MIP, MEP, the PEF and FVC, presented difference at the beginning, but at the end they did not. Conclusion: IMT, with LPR or RVI should be used in treatment of patients with HF.

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