Evaluation of pulmonary rehabilitation after lung resection through opto-electronic plethysmography

The aim of this study is to evaluate the Pulmonary Rehabilitation (PR) and post-operative complications on lung cancer patients by means of opto-electronic plethysmography (OEP). FEV1 and FVC have been measured through OEP on 13 lung cancer patients, before and after lobectomy and after pulmonary rehabilitation (PR). In every patient, FEV1 decreases after surgery, whereas FVC decreases only in 8 patients. Mean FEV1 and FVC decrease in every compartment of chest wall (CW) and in CW after lobectomy and improve in post-rehabilitation phase (ΔFEV1(CW)=+31%; ΔFVC(CW) = +13%). The highest positive variation of FEV1 has been measured in rib-cage abdominal compartment (ΔFEV1(RCa) =+59%) and of FVC in abdomen (ΔFVC(AB) = +24%), after PR.