In-hospital Physiotherapy for Patients Undergoing Thoracic Surgery - a Randomized Controlled Trial

April 9, 2019 updated by: Marcus Jonsson, Region Örebro County

Lung cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in the world, and the cancer that causes the most number of deaths. In Sweden, about 3700 persons are diagnosed every year. About one fifth of the patients are eligible for surgery.

Patients undergoing thoracic surgery suffer from pain and low health related quality of life after surgery.

In Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, pre- and postoperative physiotherapy is routinely provided for patients undergoing thoracic surgery, but the effects have not been thoroughly investigated. The scientific evidence of the effect of physiotherapy in connection with lung surgery is limited. The treatment typically consists of early mobilisation, breathing exercises and exercises for the shoulders. Reeve et al has shown that a postoperative shoulder exercise program can improve function and decrease pain after thoracotomy. Breathing exercises has not been found effective in reducing the rate of postoperative pulmonary complications after thoracic surgery.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of in-hospital physiotherapy treatment, for patients undergoing thoracic surgery, on physical activity, health related quality of life, pain and lung function.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Lung cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in the world, and the cancer that causes the most number of deaths. In Sweden, about 3700 persons are diagnosed every year. About one fifth of the patients are eligible for surgery.

Patients undergoing thoracic surgery suffer from pain and low health related quality of life after surgery.

In Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, pre- and postoperative physiotherapy is routinely provided for patients undergoing thoracic surgery, but the effects have not been thoroughly investigated. The scientific evidence of the effect of physiotherapy in connection with lung surgery is limited. The treatment typically consists of early mobilisation, breathing exercises and exercises for the shoulders. Reeve et al has shown that a postoperative shoulder exercise program can improve function and decrease pain after thoracotomy. Breathing exercises has not been found effective in reducing the rate of postoperative pulmonary complications after thoracic surgery.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of in-hospital physiotherapy treatment, for patients undergoing thoracic surgery, on physical activity, health related quality of life, pain and lung function.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

107

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

      • Örebro, Sweden, 70185
        • Örebro University Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Thoracic surgery

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Previous lung volume reducing surgery

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Physiotherapy
Physiotherapy (breathing exercises, mobilisation, exercises for upper limbs, advice on physical activity and exercise) provided daily during hospitalization.
Physiotherapy treatment
No Intervention: Control group
No physiotherapy.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Six minute walking test
Time Frame: up to 12 months postoperatively
up to 12 months postoperatively

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Marcus Jonsson, PhD Student, Region Örebro Län

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

December 1, 2014

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2017

Study Completion (Actual)

January 1, 2018

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 9, 2013

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 10, 2013

First Posted (Estimate)

October 11, 2013

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 10, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 9, 2019

Last Verified

April 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 122541

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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