Effect of respiratory muscle training in patients undergoing cholecystectomy

Abstract

The upper abdominal surgeries such as cholecystectomy, tend to evolve postoperatively with restrictive ventilatory disorders. The aim of this study was to evaluate the evolution of inspiratory muscle strength after training the respiratory muscles through the use of linear load device with pressure in patients undergoing conventional cholecystectomy. We studied 10 female patients with indication for cholecystectomy who underwent assessment of inspiratory muscle strength by means of the Maximal Inspiratory Pressure (MIP). Of these, six were evaluated preoperatively and postoperatively (G1 - group 1) and conducted Respiratory Muscle Training (RMT) using the Theshold ® (twice a day on the 1st and 2nd postoperative day using 40% MIP) and four patients were observed in the post-surgery as a control group (G2 - group 2). The results indicate that despite the decrease in MIP postoperatively, there was recovery of inspiratory muscle strength on the first day of RMT, from 36.7 ± 13.7 cmH2O to 48.0 ± 13.7 cmH2O, and this increase was statistically significant (p <0.05), which did not occur in the control group. We conclude that there is a reduction in respiratory muscle strength after cholecystectomy and that the RMT was considered satisfactory in the improvement of the respiratory muscle strength.