Evaluation of use of respiratory physiotherapy in treatment of dogs with pneumonia

Pneumonia frequently affects dogs, leading to the buildup of inflammatory secretions in their airways. While respiratory physiotherapy is often used to treat pneumonia in humans, its efficacy in dogs remains largely unexplored. This study assessed the safety and efficacy of respiratory physiotherapy as a supplementary treatment for canine pneumonia. Fifty-four dogs with pneumonia were included. The intervention group (n = 16) received daily physiotherapy and was compared with a historical control group (n = 38) treated for pneumonia without physiotherapy. Physiotherapy included manual techniques such as chest wall percussion, vibration, and postural drainage. Key outcomes measured before and after the interventions included oxygenation via pulse oximetry and arterial blood samples, respiratory rate, breathing sounds, respiratory type, and assessment of potential adverse effects. Most importantly, respiratory physiotherapy was shown to be safe and feasible as a supplementary treatment in dogs with pneumonia. Respiratory physiotherapy significantly increased PaO₂ of dogs with pneumonia compared with their admission levels long-term (estimated change of 9.3 mmHg, 95 % CI 2.4; 16.2), a change not observed in the control group. However, there was no significant difference between groups, making the clinical significance of this finding uncertain. Oxygen saturation increased transiently after the physiotherapy intervention relative to saturation before the procedure (estimated difference of 1.1 %, 95 % CI 0.3; 1.9, P = 0.006), but this significant increase was not observed in PaO₂, thereby limiting the interpretive value of the result. Mortality rate, oxygen supplementation length, or clinical parameters were not consistently affected. Findings suggest that respiratory physiotherapy could represent a safe supplementary approach to improving oxygenation in dogs with pneumonia, but its potential benefits remain to be validated in larger, controlled trials.