Background: Decortication is a common surgical procedure done to free a part of fibrous capsule, formed around the lung, secondary to an inflammatory process. The risk of postoperative pulmonary atelectasis following Decortication is relatively high which is recorded at 90%. Therefore this case study has been designed to find out a better physiotherapy technique to reverse atelectasis in short period of time. Methodology: This case study was based on two sample subjects. Case I who received Unilateral guided chest expansion after decortication and Case II who did not received Unilateral guided chest expansion after decortication. Outcome Variables: Radiological and Auscultation findings collected and compared; and length of hospital stays were considered as outcome variables. Result: Unilateral guided chest expansion technique after decortication has much more significant effect in reversing atelectesis than Non-unilateral guided chest expansion technique after decortication. Conclusion: This case study has shown that Case I who received Unilateral guided chest expansion after decortication has better improvement than the Case II who did not received Unilateral guided chest expansion after decortication. Therefore this technique should be practices in every unilateral atelectasis, especially after decortication.

Keywords: Decortications; Unilateral guided chest expansion; Chest X-ray.