Background Ineffective coughing commonly occurs post-extubating from mechanical ventilation.
Aims The aim of this trial was to investigate the effect of lung volume recruitment technique on cough augmentation in critically ill patients.
Methods In total, 50 patients from both sexes aged 40–60 years who were extubated from mechanical ventilation after ≥ 48 hours were randomly assigned to two equal groups (n = 25). The experimental group (A) received the lung volume recruitment technique, whereas the control group (B) received routine chest physiotherapy only. The programme was applied for (30 to 45) minutes per treatment session, two times a day for four consecutive days. The dependent variables, namely, peak expiratory flow rate, cough peak flow rate, and oxygen saturation were assessed at the beginning and ending of this trial while the extubating success rate was evaluated at the end of this study.
Results Parametric tests were administered for pairwise comparisons of the study variables within and between groups. The pairwise within both groups (A) and (B) analysis showed a significant difference between pre- and post-treatment values. The pairwise between the two groups' analysis revealed no significant difference at pretreatment; however, there was a significant difference at post-treatment in all dependent variables in favor of group (A). Also, the chi-square analysis showed a significant difference of extubating success rate in favor of group (A). Conclusions Lung volume recruitment was an effective technique for cough augmentation in critically ill patients who were extubated from mechanical ventilation with ineffective coughing. Trail registration: NCT05128552