Pulmonary rehabilitation
Pulmonary rehabilitation was carried out over 8 weeks in
the physiotherapy gym in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.
There were 2 supervised sessions per week and 1 unsupervised
session at home for 8 weeks. Patients started with
a gentle warm up, followed by 10-min sessions each on
cardiovascular equipment including the treadmill (Vision-
Fitness, USA), bike (Tunturi, Netherlands) and ski
machine (Welso Skier Plus, Welso Fitness Equipment,
USA). Patients were exercised at 85% VO2max (maximal
oxygen consumption). All exercises were demonstrated and
supervised by trained physiotherapists and modifications of
exercises were done, as per patient’s ability. Speed/resistance/
time/number of rest and final saturations/heart rate
and Borg score17 was recorded, at the end of each
intervention.
Sessions ended with a cool down, as in warm up, but
slower paced followed by education.