Postoperative Respiratory Function in Esophageal Cancer Patients -with Special Reference to Respiratory Muscle Strength-

Hajime Saitoh, Shichisaburo Abo, Michihiko Kitamura, Yoshihiro Minamiya, Hidekazu Matsumoto, Kazuo Tenma, Reijirou Saito, Satoru Motoyama, Ikuo Matsuzaki

Second Department of Surgery, Akita University School of Medicine

Postoperative respiratory dysfunction in esophageal cancer patients during the early period after surgery was freaquently encountered, but its causes were not clear. We investigated the causes of postoperative respiratory dysfunction from the point of view of respiratory muscle strength in 13 patients with esophageal cancer. Respiratory muscle function was evaluated with maximal inspiratory mouth pressure at the RV level (MIP) and maximal expiratory mouth pressure at TLC level (MEP). Skeletal muscle function was evaluated with grip strength (GS). Skeletal muscle function was evaluated with grip strength (GS), MIP, MEP and GS were measured on the before surgery, and on the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 14th, and 21st postoperative days (POD). On the 3rd POD, MIP and MEP had significantly decreased to 34.7±15.4% and 43.1±3.3% respectively of the preoperative value (p<0.05), and on the 21st POD, recovered to 86.4±12.7% and 87.2±9.0% respectively of the preoperative value. MIP and MEP were correlated significantly with forced vital capacity (FVC) and one-second forced expiratory volume (FEV_1.0), but GS was weakly correlated with MIP and MEP. Our data suggest that MIP and MEP are a useful indexes of postoperative respiratory function and there was a possibility that respiratory muscle disorder could have contributed to postoperative respiratory dysfunction rather than skeletal muscle function.

Key words
esophageal cancer, postoperative respiratory function, respiratory muscle strength, maximal inspiratory pressure, maximal expiratory pressure

Reprint requests
Hajime Saitoh Second Department of Surgery, Akira University School of Medicine
1-1-1 Hondoh, Akita, 010 JAPAN

Accepted
January 10, 1996

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