The Relationship between Post-Operative Pain and FEV1following Upper Abdominal Surgery—a Pilot Study

Abstract

The relationship between subjective pain and the change in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) following elective upper abdominal surgery was studied in 20 patients.Measurements of subjective pain using Rollman's pain scale, and FEV1 using a Vitalograph spirometer, were made pre-operatively and 24–28 h post-operatively. Subjective pain increased from a pre-operative reading of 1 to a post-operative reading of 4.3 (mean). A mean decrease in FEV1 of 54.9% was recorded post-operatively. No significant correlation was found between the subjective pain score and the decrease in FEV1 seen post-operatively.