Rehabilitation in Patients Undergoing Lung Transplantation (LTx)

Lung transplantation (LTx) has become an established therapeutic option for treating patients with end-stage pulmonary disease.Before and after LTx, physical ability might be restricted due to certain effects on respiration, circulation, and skeletal muscles.Severe and chronic lung disease is associated with physiological changes.Limb muscle dysfunction, inactivity deconditioning and nutritional depletion can affect exercise capacity and physical functioning in candidates for LTx.At present, evidence-based guidelines for exercise training completed in the before and after LTx phases have not been described.However, the use of exercise training for chronic respiratory failure conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), interstitial lung disease, and cystic fibrosis has been well-documented.This knowledge could be applied to exercise training problems before and after LTx.Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) has been proven to be effective for the overall improvement of quality of life (QOL) of patients following LTx.PR can improve exercise capacity and QOL, regardless of the type of exercise that is conducted and the disease background of the patient.There are not many large-scale reports on the effects of exercise therapy before and after lung transplantation.Therefore, it is necessary to study the effects of long-term prognosis after LTx.