Rehabilitation in Patients Undergoing Lung Transplantation (LTx).
Lung transplantation (LTx) has become an established therapeutic option for treating patients
with end-stage pulmonary disease. The first LTx was performed by Hardy at the University of Mississippi, Mississippi, USA in 1963. By 1978, 38 cases of LTx had been performed; however, there were only three survivors over one month after LTx. Cyclosporine has had a major impact on long-term survival after LTx. Cyclosporine was first used for LTx in 1983 at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. Since then, LTx has spread rapidly worldwide.
Today, 4,000 cases of LTx are performed annually in Europe and the United states. Furthermore, to date, the number of completed LTx cases has exceeded the cumulative total of 50,000. However, because of difficulties in the acceptance of brain death, the clinical application of
LTx was delayed in Japan. The Japanese brain death act for organ transplantation first came
into effect in October 1997.
Performing lung transplantations in patients with advanced lung disease is becoming more feasible, especially in those individuals with chronic respiratory failure, cardiovascular risk factors,
or muscular and nutritional conditions, all of which are factors that can influence the prognosis of successful lung transplantation. Therefore, pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is an important process that focuses on avoiding comorbidities and complications. Exercise therapy should include warm-up and cool-down period of about 5 to 10 minutes, as well as stretching and joint range of motion training.
Pulm Res Respir Med Open J. 2017; SE(2):S57-S62. doi: 10.17140/PRRMOJSE-2-109
