The usefulness of respiratory physiotherapy for the prevention of pulmonary complications after cardiac surgery remains unproved .
OBJECTIVE To assess whether respiratory physiotherapy prevents pulmonary complications after cardiac surgery .
Pain management in cardiac surgery patients: comparison between standard therapy and patient-controlled analgesia regimen.
OBJECTIVE To compare st and ard nurse-based pain therapy with a patient-controlled analgesia ( PCA ) regimen . DESIGN Prospect i ve , r and omized study . SETTING Single-institutional , clinical investigation in an urban , university-affiliated hospital . PARTICIPANTS Sixty patients undergoing elective first-time cardiac surgery were included . INTERVENTIONS In 30 patients , a st and ard analgesic regimen was used , and in 30 patients , a PCA regimen was used . The perioperative and postoperative management was similar for all patients . MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Degree of sedation , satisfaction , and pain ( by visual analog scale [ VAS ] ) was assessed within the first 3 postoperative days . Vital capacity ( VC ) and forced expiratory volume in 1 second ( FEV1 ) were measured using a portable spirometry system . Cortisol and troponin T ( TnT ) plasma levels were also measured . The expectation of pain was similar in both groups , and the postoperative pain score was significantly lower in the PCA than in the st and ard group throughout the study period . Significantly more  piritramid  was used in the PCA ( total , 75.6 + /- 33.4 mg ) than in the st and ard group ( total , 20.1 + /- 31.9 mg ) . VC and FEV1 were significantly lower in the st and ard group compared with the PCA patients . Cortisol and TnT plasma levels were similar in both groups . Frequency of side effects were similar for both groups . CONCLUSION Because of the beneficial effects with regard to degree of pain and satisfaction , pain management using PCA systems can be recommended for cardiac surgery patients . It appears to be superior to st and ard nurse-based pain therapy
The usefulness of respiratory physiotherapy for the prevention of pulmonary complications after cardiac surgery remains unproved .
OBJECTIVE To assess whether respiratory physiotherapy prevents pulmonary complications after cardiac surgery .