Comment on Chatwin et al. Waves of precision: a practical guide for reviewing new tools to evaluate mechanical in-exsufflation efficacy in neuromuscular disorders. J. Clin. Med. 2024, 13, 2643
Author(s)
Allen, Jodi
Clunie, Gemma
Newman, Helen
Slinger, Claire
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We read with interest the paper published by Chatwin et al. [1], Waves of Precision: A Practical Guide for Reviewing New Tools to Evaluate Mechanical In-Exsufflation Efficacy in Neuromuscular Disorders in the April 2024 edition of the Journal of Clinical Medicine. The ways in which the respiratory (physio)therapy profession is embracing new tools to refine the efficacy of mechanical in-exsufflation (MI-E) are both innovative and fascinating, and we would like to congratulate the authors for establishing such an informative review. We do, however, have a couple of issues to query. As members of a speech and language therapy (SLT) group with a special interest and expertise in upper airway assessment using ultrasound and other adjuvant tools, we believe that this review is missing reference to contemporary literature specific to two key upper airway assessment methods: (1) cervical auscultation and (2) ultrasound. We write this letter in the interest of drawing the reader’s attention to this work. In the absence of empirical evidence, expert opinion plays an important role in clinical decision-making and the development of practice guidelines [2]. However, where evidence does exist, a balanced critique of current literature is necessary. This includes recognising the limitations of emerging assessment tools to ensure that readers are well-informed and that risks of misapplication are mitigated [2,3,4]. We hope our contribution will encourage appropriate use of cervical auscultation and ultrasound in clinical practice and facilitate a well-balanced understanding of their potential and, more importantly, constraints as tools to evaluate the upper airway.
Date Issued
2024-09-01
Date Acceptance
2024-08-14
Citation
Journal of Clinical Medicine, 2024, 13 (17)
ISSN
2077-0383
Publisher
MDPI AG
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Clinical Medicine
Volume
13
Issue
17
Copyright Statement
© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/39274202
PII: jcm13174991
Subjects
General & Internal Medicine
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Medicine, General & Internal
Science & Technology
TRANSCUTANEOUS LARYNGEAL ULTRASONOGRAPHY
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
Switzerland
Article Number
4991
Date Publish Online
2024-08-23