Effectiveness of Acapella along with institutional based chest physiotherapy techniques on pulmonary functions and airway clearance in post-operative CABG patients.

The study was a feasibility pilot with a very small sample size (20 completers), which limits the reliability of the findings. Four patients dropped out due to complications, which is a notable attrition rate for a small study. Pre-operative spirometry values were not available, so the immediate post-operative change in lung volumes could not be assessed against a baseline. The study only followed patients until post-operative day 6, so long-term effects are unknown. The intervention involved multiple components (breathing exercises, incentive spirometry, mobilization), and while the Acapella was the variable, the overall improvement is a cumulative effect of the entire rehabilitation protocol.

The authors declare no conflict of interest. No external funding was reported.

Do not assume this proves Acapella is superior to all other physiotherapy methods. This was a small pilot study where the Acapella group replaced manual percussion but kept all other standard care elements like incentive spirometry and breathing exercises. The benefit is relative to that specific control group, not absolute.