RESULTS:
We observed that inspiratory muscle training increased the forced vital capacity, the maximum voluntary ventilation and the ratio between the forced expired volume during the first second and the forced vital capacity. The evolution of the arterial blood gases and of the maximum inspiratory and expiratory pressures before and after the operation was similar in both groups, with the outcomes also being similar.
CONCLUSION:
We concluded that our domiciliary program of inspiratory muscle training was safe and improved the forced vital capacity and the maximum voluntary ventilation, although the clinical benefits of this program were not clearly demonstrable in the present study.