Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Program: Pulmonary Rehabilitation

Pulmonary Rehabilitation

Patients and physicians alike are familiar with the relentless progressive loss of lean body muscle mass and the deterioration in general functional abilities seen in patients with significant respiratory diseases. Considerable information in the medical literature exists supporting the prescription of cardiopulmonary rehabilitation to the treatment regimen of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Prolonged improvements to greater than 30 percent of pre-rehabilitation function can be achieved when a well-motivated patient is assisted by a knowledgeable and dedicated rehabilitation team. Pulmonary rehabilitation also is an important therapeutic preparation for "lung volume reduction surgery" directed toward pulmonary emphysema and also prior to lung transplantation for end-stage lung disease. We have recognized that this preoperative physiologic training can significantly reduce the postoperative recuperation and surgical risks associated with these operations.

Accordingly, the pulmonary physicians and surgeons of the Allegheny Center for Lung and Thoracic Disease are dedicated to the rehabilitative aspects of the patients' care. The physician directors and specialized rehabilitation nursing staff of the center have worked together to establish a state-of-the-art rehabilitation center at Allegheny General Hospital. Patients who live in the Pittsburgh area can benefit from this monitored and progressively graded cardiopulmonary exercise rehabilitation effort after standard consultation. The usual rehabilitation program involves three months of monitored exercise training following a physiologic evaluation.

Comprehensive services of the center's rehabilitation program include educational exercise training for "at-home" conditioning, appropriate respiratory and oxygen therapy during activity, and nutritional and psychological counseling. These areas of treatment are also coordinated into the "after-care" aspects of the patient's management. For the convenience of patients who live far from the hospital, the rehabilitation team can also arrange for the patient to undergo rehabilitation at a well-organized program closer to home.

Pulmonary rehabilitation as a critical pre-operative conditioning approach or primary treatment regimen is an important component of improving a patient's quality of life.

Director
Brian Carlin, M.D.

Co-Directors
Peter Kaplan, M.D.

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