Effect of respiratory muscle assessment-based muscle relaxation training on postoperative pulmonary function rehabilitation, sputum excretion and quality of life of patients receiving thoracic surgeries

Muscle relaxation training relieves the nervousness and anxiety of patients, and attenuates the progression of respiratory tract infection, lung injury and other postoperative complications. In this study, we evaluated the effects of nursing intervention combined with respiratory muscle assessment-based muscle relaxation training on postoperative pulmonary function rehabilitation, sputum excretion and quality of life in patients receiving thoracic surgeries. A total of 140 eligible patients were randomly assigned into an observation group and a control group. The control group underwent routine nursing, and the observation group received nursing intervention combined with respiratory muscle assessment-based muscle relaxation training. Pulmonary function rehabilitation, sputum excretion and quality of life before and after nursing intervention were compared. After nursing intervention, pulmonary function indices [forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV) and FEV1/FVC ratio] were significantly improved in both groups compared with those before nursing intervention, with significantly better outcomes in the observation group (P <0.05). Sputum excretion was significantly superior in the observation group to that in the control group 48 h and 72 h after surgery (P <0.05). The scores of all dimensions of quality of life (daily life, social activities, anxiety symptoms and depressive symptoms) were significantly lowered in both groups after nursing intervention compared with those before nursing intervention, and the decreases were significantly larger in the observation group (P <0.05). Nursing intervention combined with respiratory muscle assessment-based muscle relaxation training can enhance the pulmonary function and effectively improve the sputum expectoration capacity and quality of life of patients undergoing thoracic surgeries.