Introduction: Inflammatory changes in the pleural cavity often result in restrictive chest wall deformity. Despite successful infection control, a significant number of patients may still experience restrictive chest wall tightness. Effective approaches to alleviate these symptoms are seldom studied in the literature. Therefore, we aim to evaluate whether simple stretch exercises can serve as an effective strategy for relieving chest wall tightness.
Materials and methods: From January 1st, 2014, to December 31st, 2018, we conducted a retrospective review of empyema thoracis cases treated in our department. The inclusion criteria consisted of patients with fibrinopurulent stage empyema thoracis who were successfully treated with surgery. All included patients were instructed to perform simple stretch exercises starting one month after surgery. We evaluated their symptoms at 1, 3 and 12 months post-surgery and compared the effectiveness of stretch exercises in relieving restrictive chest wall tightness.
Results: A total of 103 patients were included in the study. Among them, 30% of patients performed stretch exercises more than 3 times a week, 26% performed stretch exercises between 1-2 times a week and 43% of patients never engaged in stretch exercises. The occurrence of chest wall pain was similar between patients who did and did not perform stretch exercises. However, at 12 months after surgery, patients who engaged in stretch exercises had a significantly lower incidence of restrictive chest wall tightness (p=0.03).
Conclusion: Simple stretch exercise can be an effective approach in alleviating restrictive chest wall tightness.
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