Uda K, et al. – Authors here assessed whether physical therapy (PT) within 3 days before lung cancer surgery combined with postoperative PT reduces 30–day mortality and the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs) compared with postoperative PT alone. As per findings, preoperative short–term plus postoperative PT for lung cancer surgery had no relevant impact in terms of reducing 30–day mortality or incidence of PPCs compared with postoperative PT alone in patients undergoing lung cancer surgery.

Methods

• This was a retrospective cohort study; the Japanese Diagnosis Procedure Combination database was utilized; patients aged ≥18 years who underwent non-small-cell lung cancer surgery and received PT on postoperative Day 1 or 2 between 2010 and 2015 were included.
• Comparison of thirty-day mortality and incidence of PPCs (pneumonia, aspiration pneumonia and respiratory failure) between patients who received preoperative PT within 3 days combined with postoperative PT and those who received postoperative PT alone using 1:1 propensity score matching was performed.

Results

• 21 259 patients were eligible for this study; analysis of 6374 matched pairs was performed by propensity score matching.
• Findings suggested no significant difference in 30-day mortality between postoperative PT with and without preoperative PT (0.2% vs 0.2%, P = 0.55; risk difference -0.05%, 95% confidence interval -0.2% to 0.1%) and no difference in the incidence of PPCs (2.4% vs 2.0%, P = 0.15; risk difference -0.4%, 95% confidence interval -0.9% to 0.1%).