The effect of incentive spirometry (IS) on postoperative hypoxemia in bariatric surgery patients was found to be insignificant, according to a randomized cohort study published in JAMA Surgery.
“At present, postoperative IS is considered the standard of care and is incorporated into standardized bariatric surgery recovery protocols,” wrote the authors of the study, led by Haddon Pantel, MD, of the Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington, Mass. “However, despite the ubiquitous use of IS in the postoperative period, data on its efficacy are conflicting, and high-quality evidence is lacking.” (JAMA Surg. doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2016.4981)
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Three balls Incentive Spirometer for deep patient breathing
A total of 224 patients were evenly randomized into one of two cohorts; one cohort received no postoperative IS and acted as the control, while the other received postoperative IS. Patients from each of these cohorts were followed up at 6, 12, and 24 hours to measure SaO2 levels as a sign of hypoxemia, which was defined as a level of under 92%.
No significant differences were observed between the two cohorts at any of the three follow-up periods in terms of SaO2 levels. At 6 hours, hypoxemia incidence rates were 11.9% in the control group and 10.4% in the IS group (P = .72). At the 12-hour follow-up, the control group registered a 5.4% incidence rate, compared with 8.2% for those receiving postoperative IS (P = .40). And finally, at 24-hour follow-up, the control group had a 3.7% rate of hypoxemia, while those in the IS cohort had a 4.6% rate (P = .73). In addition, there were no significant differences observed in the average SaO2 levels between the two cohorts (P = .99, P = .40, and P = .69 at 6, 12, and 24 hours, respectively) nor was there a significantly higher rate of pulmonary complications in one cohort versus the other (P = .24).
The authors concluded, “With health care moving toward a more evidence-based, economically driven, and environmentally sustainable field, this study adds evidence to the concept that IS should not be universally used in all patients undergoing surgery and does not appear to be necessary in elective bariatric surgical procedures.”
The study was funded by Lahey Hospital and Medical Center’s department of general surgery; the authors reported no relevant financial disclosures.