The importance of pulmonary rehabilitation in lung transplantation

Lung transplantation is now the standard of care for nonreversible end-stage lung disease and leads to dramatic improvements in pulmonary function, quality of life, and survival. Pretransplant pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) can optimize potential recipients and widen or open a “transplant window” period. Given the potential for long wait times in our country, ongoing PR is crucial to ensure recipient fitness. Postoperative rehabilitation is an integral part of care of the recipient and may extend beyond hospital discharge. We present the case of a 42-year-old female who underwent bilateral lung transplantation for advanced interstitial lung disease and discuss the challenges and our approach to PR in this setting.