Why the study?
It was unknown whether early postoperative pulmonary complications after abdominal surgery are associated with lower performance in the preoperative six-minute walk test.
Does lower preoperative physical capacity (six-minute walk test) predict early postoperative pulmonary complications in patients undergoing elective abdominal surgery?
Does lower preoperative physical capacity (six-minute walk test) predict early postoperative pulmonary complications in patients undergoing elective abdominal surgery?
Lower preoperative physical capacity, as measured by the six-minute walk test, is associated with an increased risk of early postoperative pulmonary complications after elective abdominal surgery.
Supports 6MWT for risk stratification before abdominal surgery; leaves open whether improving capacity reduces complications.
Objective: To investigate whether early postoperative pulmonary complications after abdominal surgery are associated with a lower performance in preoperative six-minute walk test.Methods: A cross-sectional cohort study of 50 participants who underwent elective abdominal surgery and performed the six-minute walk test within 48 hours prior to surgery were conducted. Postoperative pulmonary complications up to the seventh postoperative day were obtained from medical records.Results: Overall, 25 participants developed postoperative pulmonary complications. The mean (standard deviation) preoperative walked distances of the participants with and without postoperative pulmonary complications were, respectively, 444.8 (81.3) meters and 498.3 (63.7) meters (p = .013). The incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications was greater in the participants with walked distance < 400 meters. The multivariable logistic regression model revealed a significant association between postoperative pulmonary complications and preoperative walked distance (Odds ratio = 0.978, p = .010) in participants who underwent intestinal, stomach, or bile tract resection. Conclusions: This study found a high incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications in abdominal surgery participants and an association between lower preoperative physical capacity and the risk of postoperative pulmonary complications in participants who underwent intestinal, stomach, and biliary tract resection.
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Soares et al. (2019) studied this question.
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