Vest Airway Clearance System Chest Physiotherapy

Many people with cystic fibrosis (CF) and other medical conditions use high-frequency chest wall oscillation (HFCWO) vests, otherwise known as airway clearance systems, as part of their daily airway clearance routine.

Inculde:

• Cystic fibrosis (CF)
• Asthma
• Bronchiectasis
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Cerebral palsy (CP)
• Muscular dystrophy (MD)
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
• Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA)
• Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD)
• Spinal cord injury
• Post-lung transplantation

How does it work?
The Vest Airway Clearance System uses a technology called High Frequency Chest Wall Oscillation (HFCWO). This therapy utilizes a device that generates increased airflow velocities that create cough-like shear forces and decreases secretion viscosity. Both serve to assist patients in moving retained secretions from smaller airways to larger airways where they can more easily be removed by coughing

How Do HFCWO Vests Work?

The goals of HFCWO treatment are the same as with any other airway clearance technique – to break up mucus and help bring it to the upper airways, where it can be coughed out or removed by suction. which does three things:

1. Breaks up mucus, making it thinner
2. Creates “mini-coughs” in the lungs, which help push the mucus out
3. Makes the cilia move faster, helping them carry the loosened mucus to the upper airways

Advantages and of HFCWO Vest Therapy

For some, the vest offers a great alternative or addition to manual chest physiotherapy (CPT), but it’s not necessarily the best option for everyone. The decision to use HFCWO therapy or not is a choice based on personal preference and physician recommendations (see chart below).

Advantages:

• Treatment can be done without help.
• Does not require any skill, so every treatment will be done correctly.
• Freedom to do other things during treatment, because no special position or breathing techniques are required.
• Treats all lobes of the lung at once, so treatment time is shorter than manual CPT.