Evaluation of use of respiratory physiotherapy in treatment of young foals with pneumonia

BACKGROUND: Pneumonia is a common condition in young, hospitalized foals, causing accumulation of inflammatory secretions to the airways. In humans, respiratory physiotherapy is commonly used as a supplementary treatment for pneumonia with varying results regarding its efficacy, but the efficacy in foals has not been assessed to date. AIMS: This study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of respiratory physiotherapy as a supplementary therapy method for young foals with pneumonia. METHODS: A total of 44 foals with pneumonia aged under a month were used. The prospective intervention group receiving daily respiratory physiotherapy (n = 16) was compared with a historical control group (n = 28) consisting of foals previously treated for pneumonia without respiratory physiotherapy. Respiratory physiotherapy included manual techniques aiming to clear secretions from the airways such as chest wall percussion and vibration, and postural drainage. The main outcomes assessed before and after physiotherapy interventions included oxygenation evaluation via pulse oximetry measurements and arterial blood samples, determination of respiratory rate, assessment of breathing sounds and respiratory type, and assessment of adverse effects. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Respiratory physiotherapy as a supplementary therapy for foal pneumonia was found to be safe and feasible. However, it did not result in significant clinical improvements in the evaluated parameters, apart from a potential increase in oxygen saturation immediately after the intervention (95.1 ± 4.5 % before and 96.1 ± 3.8 % after physiotherapy, P = 0.015). This finding warrants further investigation.