RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Movement-evoked pain and fear of dehiscence but not rest pain are related with cough strength after open abdominal surgery
JF European Respiratory Journal
JO Eur Respir J
FD European Respiratory Society
SP PA2796
DO 10.1183/13993003.congress-2015.PA2796
VO 46
IS suppl 59
A1 Ismail Özsoy
A1 Seher Özyürek
A1 Meric Yildirim
A1 Ersin Avci
A1 Didem Karadibak
YR 2015
UL http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/46/suppl_59/PA2796.abstract
AB Background and Aim: Adequate cough strength is necessary for effective clearance of excess bronchial secretions after abdominal surgery. Incision pain and fear of dehiscence may be an important contributor to avoidance of coughing and decreased cough strength. However, interactions of these parameters have been less studied. Thus, we examined whether cough strength was related to pain (movement-evoked and rest pain) and fear of dehiscence after abdominal surgery.Methods: This study assessed 26 subjects admitted for open abdominal surgery. We performed all measurements on the 3rd postoperative day. Cough strength was evaluated with the peak expiratory flow during a cough maneuver (cough PEF) in sitting position. Pain intensity at rest (rest pain), during coughing (cough-evoked pain), during walking (walking-evoked pain) and fear of dehiscence (fear of damaging the surgical incision) were rated verbally (0-10 numerical rating scale). Spearmen's rank correlation test was used to evaluate correlations between parameters.Results: A negative correlation was observed between cough PEF and the following variables: cough-evoked pain, walking evoked-pain and fear of dehiscence (rho=-0.643, p<0.001; rho=-0.514, p=0.007; and rho=-0.780, p<0.001; respectively). Rest pain was not significantly correlated with cough PEF (p=0.059).Conclusion: In contrast to rest pain, movement-evoked pain was related with cough strength after open abdominal surgery. The aggressive management of movement-evoked pain and effective strategies to reduce patients' fear of dehiscence in the postoperative early period could improve the cough strength and outcome of pulmonary functions.