Development and impact of exercise program on postoperative pulmonary complications following lung resection

ABSTRACT

To develop and implement an exercise program for patients undergoing lung resection as well as to assess the impact of this exercise program on postoperative pulmonary complication following lung resection. 59 patients underlying lung resection were subjected to preoperative assessment [including history taking, general laboratory tests, arterial blood gases [ABG], pulmonary function tests, 12-lead surface ECG and color Doppler echocardiography as well as postoperative pulmonary function [3 months postoperative] and hospital stay. Postoperative pulmonary complications were noted according to a precise definition. Thery were divided to two groups 35 as control and 24 as cases. Cases were subjected to preoperative two weeks physiotherapy. The risk of PPCs associated with selected factors was evaluated. The operations performed included 13 RUL, 9RML, 13RLL, 15LUL and 9 LLL. fifty-nine patients were studied [35 patients as control and 24 patients as cases]. They were age, sex, BMI, pulmonary function, ABG, and general lab matched. They were also matched regarding preoperative cardiovascular evaluation criteria. PPCs occurred in [12] cases of [35] patients [34.3%] in control group and [2] patients in intervention group [8.3%]. The number of days in the hospital postoperatively decreased with the intervention group. There was no significant difference between cases developed postoperative complication and non-complicated cases regarding pre and postoperative pulmonary function tests. Exercise program evaluated in this study can decrease PPCs and postoperative hospital stay. In addition preoperative pulmonary function tests do not appear to contribute to the identification of high-risk patients