[Assessment of respiratory muscle strength, peak expiratory flow and pain after open cholecystectomy].

OBJECTIVE: to investigate the behavior of maximal inspiratory and expiratory pressure (MIP and MEP), peak expiratory flow (PEF) and pain after open cholecystectomy.

METHODS: were investigated 31 volunteers over 18 years submitted to open cholecystectomy between january and december 2007 at Holy House of Charity in the city of Diamantina-MG. The MIP MEP PEF and pain variables were measured at times pre-operative, 24 and 48 hours post-operative using manovacuometer, peak flow meter Assess and visual numeric scale of pain respectively. The statistical analysis was performed using Wilcoxon and Spearman tests considering significant differences for p<0,05.

RESULTS: There was significant reduction of the MIP MEP and PEF values at 24 and 48 hours post-operative compared to the pre-operative values. The levels of pain were significantly higher at all post-operative times compared to the pre-operative time. The MIP, MEP and PEF measures not showed correlation with the levels of post-operative pain. Nevertheless, the PEF after surgery showed significant correlation with the MEP values.

CONCLUSION: the open cholecystectomy causes significant impairment of the respiratory muscle strength and the peak expiratory flow at all post-operative times evaluated, with more pronounced reductions at 24 hours post-operative. The MIP MEP and PEF measures presented a different behavior compared to pain evaluation at all times investigated.