Effectiveness of rehabilitation for postoperative pain after surgery for spontaneous pneumothorax in young adults.

Background: Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) has been established as a standard therapeutic approach for pneumothorax; however, patients may experience pronounced pain during the postoperative period, and the optimization of analgesic approaches during the postoperative period is necessary. The aim of this study was to determine for the first time the effect of a physical therapist-guided exercise program on pain perception and analgesic use in the postoperative period after VATS for spontaneous pneumothorax.

Methods: This retrospective study included 73 patients aged ≤40 years (mean age is 21, range is 15 to 40) with spontaneous pneumothorax treated with VATS that were divided in exercise-based rehabilitation (n=23) and no rehabilitation (n=50) groups. Postoperative pain perception and the use of analgesics were investigated in patients who did or did not undergo an aerobic exercise postoperatively.

Results: In patients who underwent an exercise-based postoperative rehabilitation program, the pain control was more effective, the numeric rating scale (NRS) (25.46/42.31, P=0.02), and the dose of analgetic medication was lower than the patients who undergo rehabilitation (P=0.008).

Conclusions: Overall, our findings suggest for the first time that exercise-based postoperative rehabilitation may be a viable option for pain reduction after VATS for spontaneous pneumothorax in young adults.