LAPAROSCOPIC CHOLECYSTECTOMY MINIMALLY IMPAIRS POSTOPERATIVE CARDIORESPIRATORY AND MUSCLE PERFORMANCE

Surgery elicits a subjective feeling of postoperative fatigue, at leas t partly related to an impairment in cardiorespiratory function and mu scle performance. Laparoscopic surgery is reported to impair the patie nt's condition minimally. The aim of this study was to assess exercise performance in patients scheduled for elective laparoscopic cholecyst ectomy. Nine patients assessed as having American Society of Anesthesi ologists (ASA) grade I were enrolled in the study. Subjective feelings of fatigue (measured on a visual analogue scale), and heart rate, sys temic arterial pressure oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide producti on responses to graded exercise testing, were assessed before operatio n and on days 3 and 10 after operation. There were no significant diff erences in any of these measurements, at rest or during exercise, betw een the preoperative and postoperative values. Uncomplicated laparosco pic cholecystectomy does not impair postoperative cardiorespiratory an d muscle performance or induce significant postoperative fatigue in pa tients with ASA I, allowing rapid recovery.