THE EFFECT OF PREOPERATIVE INSTRUCTION IN COUGHING AND DEEP BREATHING EXERCISES ON POSTOPERATIVE VENTILATORY FUNCTION.
Contributors: Rush University, College Of Nursing.
Published: 1982
Number of pages: 218
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: A pretest-posttest control group design was used to examine the effect of a preoperative teaching program on the magnitude of the post-operative depression of ventilatory function and the postoperative rate of return to normal ventilatory function in patients who had upper abdominal surgery with administration of a general anesthetic. Seventeen subjects were randomly assigned to the experimental group and received structured, systematic instruction in coughing and deep breathing exercises one day preoperatively. Fifteen subjects received the preoperative care customarily given by the nursing staff which does not consistently include such structured, systematic instruction. The two groups were comparable on the bases of sex, age, smoking history and length of anesthesia. A significantly greater proportion of the control group members were more than twenty percent overweight.

Vital capacity and peak expiratory flow rate were measured on four occasions: one day preoperatively and on the second, fourth and sixth postoperative days. Based on the results of analysis of covariance of these data, no group differences in postoperative ventilatory function were demonstrated. Hypotheses one and two which stated that there would be no difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of the magnitude of the postoperative depression in ventilatory function were accepted. Hypotheses three and four, which stated that the experimental group subjects would experience a faster rate of return to preoperative levels of ventilatory function than the control group subjects were rejected. In comparison with the control group, a smaller proportion of the experimental group developed atelectatic complications and a greater proportion of the experimental group demonstrated more of the behaviors associated with correct performance of coughing and deep breathing.

The following conclusions can be drawn from these findings. Preoperative instruction in coughing and deep breathing exercises had no effect on postoperative ventilatory function as measured by vital capacity and peak expiratory flow rate in this particular sample. Performance of the exercises seemed to be improved and the incidence of atelectatic complications was less in the group that received this instruction when compared to the group that had none.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-04, Section: B, page: 1155.

Thesis (D.N.SC.)--RUSH UNIVERSITY, COLLEGE OF NURSING, 1982.

School code: 0591.