Early removal of chest drainage tubes and oxygen support after a lobectomyfor lung cancer facilitates earlier recovery of the 6-minute walking distance

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of the early removal of che st tubes and oxygen support lines on the postoperative recovery of patients , who underwent a lobectomy for lung cancer. Forty-two patients, in whom th e removal of chest tubes and oxygen support lines was planned for the morni ng after surgery (subjective group), were matched by sex and age with 42 pa tients for whom no such action was scheduled (control group). The mean dura tion of chest tube drainage was 1.5 +/-. 0.8 days in the subjective group, which was significantly shorter than the period of 2.8 +/- 1.0 days in the control group (P < 0.001). The mean duration of oxygen support was 1.1 +/- 0.3 days in the subjective group, which was significantly shorter than the period of 3.1 +/- 1.3 days in the control group (P < 0.001). There was no s ignificant difference in the chest drainage volume and oxygen saturation on the morning after surgery between the two groups. We thus compared the pos toperative changes in vital capacity (VC) and 6-min walking distance (6MWD) after surgery between the two groups. The early removal of chest tubes and oxygen support lines significantly reduced the impairments of 6MWD 1 week after surgery (P = 0.04) and also diminished the impairments of VC 1 week a fter surgery but not to a significant extent (P = 0.06). The early removal of chest tubes and oxygen support lines could accelerate the postoperative recovery of 6MWD.