The necessity of chest physical therapy for thoracoscopic oesophagectomy

Radical surgery for thoracic oesophageal cancer is highly invasive and often leads to respiratory complications; thoracoscopic surgery is a less-invasive alternative. We examined the need for chest physical therapy (CPT) after thoracoscopic oesophagectomy. Thirty-six consecutive patients, randomly selected for either thoracotomy or thoracoscopic surgery, were included in a randomized clinical trial and received CPT under the same protocol. During short-term post-operative follow-up, both groups showed a marked reduction in respiratory function and responded to CPT to the same extent, although 2 weeks after surgery some parameters of respiratory function were significantly higher in the thoracoscopy group. Thoracoscopic surgery has been reported to be less invasive than standard thoracotomy, but our results suggest that the procedure is also invasive with respect to respiratory function and that CPT should be performed before and after thoracoscopic surgery.