THE SALPORD PERCUSSOR (below) has been developed to assist clearance of bronchial secretions in patients with cystic fibrosis, It has been suggested that the percussor should enable adolescents and adults to treat themselves and provide a more effective chest treatment (Flower et al 1979), In a study to evaluate the use of the forced expiration technique as an adjunct to postural drainage, it was found that the efficiency of clearance of bronchial secretions was improved by including the technique in the treatment. Many patients who had been relying on an assistant for home treatment carried out their postural drainage more effectively using the forced expiration technique without assistance (Pryor and Webber, 1979), Work by Maxwell and Redmond (1979) equated manual percussion by an assistant and mechanical percussion performed by the patient alone, It was therefore necessary to determine whether the use of mechanical percussion would further increase the efficiency of self postural drain-age using the forced expiration technique. Physiotherapy has been shown to increase airways obstruction in cystic fibrosis (Warner et al 1977), but this was not our clinical impression. Measurements of forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV,) and forced vital capacity were used to evaluate this phenomenon.

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