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Task failure from inspiratory resistive loaded breathing: a role for inspiratory muscle fatigue?

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Abstract

The use of non-invasive resistive breathing to task failure to assess inspiratory muscle performance remains a matter of debate. CO2 retention rather than diaphragmatic fatigue was suggested to limit endurance during inspiratory resistive breathing. Cervical magnetic stimulation (CMS) allows discrimination between diaphragmatic and rib cage muscle fatigue. We tested a new protocol with respect to the extent and the partitioning of inspiratory muscle fatigue at task failure. Nine healthy subjects performed two runs of inspiratory resistive breathing at 67 (12)% of their maximal inspiratory mouth pressure, respiratory rate ( f R), paced at 18 min–1, with a 15-min pause between runs. Diaphragm and rib cage muscle contractility were assessed from CMS-induced esophageal (P es,tw), gastric (P ga,tw), and transdiaphragmatic (P di,tw) twitch pressures. Average endurance times of the first and second runs were similar [9.1 (6.7) and 8.4 (3.5) min]. P di,tw significantly decreased from 33.1 to 25.9 cmH2O in the first run, partially recovered (27.6 cmH2O), and decreased further in the second run (23.4 cmH2O). P es,tw also decreased significantly (–5.1 and –2.4 cmH2O), while P ga,tw did not change significantly (–2.0 and –1.9 cmH2O), indicating more pronounced rib cage rather than diaphragmatic fatigue. End-tidal partial pressure of CO2 (P ETCO2) rose from 37.2 to 44.0 and 45.3 mmHg, and arterial oxygen saturation (S aO2) decreased in both runs from 98% to 94%. Thus, task failure in mouth-pressure-targeted, inspiratory resistive breathing is associated with both diaphragmatic and rib cage muscle fatigue. Similar endurance times despite different degrees of muscle fatigue at the start of the runs indicate that other factors, e.g. increases in P ETCO2, and/or decreases in S aO2, probably contributed to task-failure.

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Fig. 2A–D.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the subjects for their time and effort put into this study, Thomas Similowski, Paris, for teaching us the details of magnetic phrenic nerve stimulation, and Christian Schulz for help with data acquisition. Also, we thank the Swiss National Science Foundation for providing financial support under Grant. No. 31-54071.98.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Exercise Physiology, Institute for Human Movement Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, and Institute of Physiology, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland

    Markus Rohrbach, Claudio Perret, Urs Boutellier & Christina M. Spengler

  2. Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, 1 rue Michel Servet, 1205, Geneva, Switzerland

    Bengt Kayser

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  1. Markus Rohrbach
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  2. Claudio Perret
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  3. Bengt Kayser
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  4. Urs Boutellier
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  5. Christina M. Spengler
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Correspondence to Christina M. Spengler.

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Rohrbach, M., Perret, C., Kayser, B. et al. Task failure from inspiratory resistive loaded breathing: a role for inspiratory muscle fatigue?. Eur J Appl Physiol 90, 405–410 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-003-0871-x

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