THE EFFECT OF EXPIRATORY RIB – CAGE COMPRESSION BEFORE ENDOTRACHEAL SUCTIONING ON BLOOD PRESSURE IN PATIENTS UNDER MECHANICAL VENTILATION

In patients undergoing mechanical ventilation because of an endotracheal tube,
mucus production and secretion is high. Because endotracheal suction in these patients is essential,
chest physiotherapy techniques such as expiratory rib cage compression before endotracheal
suctioning can be used as a means to facilitate mobilizing and removing airway secretion and
improving alveolar ventilation. This study was carried out to determine the effect of expiratory rib
cage compression before endotracheal suctioning on arterial blood pressure in patients receiving
mechanical ventilation.
Materials & Methods: This study was a clinical trial study with a crossover design. The study sample
included 50 mechanically ventilated patients hospitalized in intensive care wards of hospitals of
Valiasr and Ayatollah Mousavi educational hospitals in Zanjan. Subjects were selected with
consecutive sampling and randomly allocated to grope 1 or 2. The patients received endotracheal
suctioning with or without rib cage compression; with a minimum 3 hours interval between the two
interventions. Blood pressure was measured 5 minutes before, and 15, 25 minutes after endotracheal
suctioning. The 2 measurement periods were carried out on the same day. We measured the blood
pressure 5 min before suctioning, 15 and 25 min after suctioning. To analyze the data, SPSS16 was
used.
Results: There was significant differences in the mean blood pressure between 5 minutes before as
compared with 15 and 25 min after endotracheal suctioning in rib cage compression method (p<0.05).
There was no significant difference in other method (p>0.05). Moreover, there was significant
differences in the mentioned variables (p=0.00).
Conclusion: According to the findings, the expiratory rib cage compression before endotracheal
suctioning improves blood pressure in patients under mechanical ventilation. So, expiratory rib cage
compression before endotracheal suctioning is recommended in the patients.