ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Surg.
Sec. Thoracic Surgery
The role of preoperative lung rehabilitation training combined with nutritional intervention on surgical tolerance and accelerated recovery indicators in patients with moderate to severe COPD complicated with lung cancer
Provisionally accepted
- Hubei Cancer Hospital, Wuhan, China
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Background: Lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD)commonly coexist simultaneously and individuals with COPD are at a higher risk of developing lung cancer.Nutritional intervention has a restorative effect on COPD combined with lung cancer, but there is almost no research on lung rehabilitation training, and there are even fewer studies on the combination of the two. Objectives: Our study aimed to assess the role of preoperative lung rehabilitation training plus nutritional intervention on surgical tolerance and accelerated recovery indicators in patients with moderate to severe COPD complicated with lung cancer. Methods: A total of 92 patients with COPD complicated by lung cancer who underwent surgery at our hospital between February 2023 and March 2024 were enrolled. Using a block randomization method, patients were divided into two groups: the control group (n=47)receiving only nutritional intervention, and the observation group(n=45) receiving a combination of lung rehabilitation training and nutritional intervention. The following indicators were compared between the two groups:pulmonary function parameters [forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), FEV1/forced vital capacity (FVC), maximum voluntary minute ventilation percentage (MVV%), and lung carbon monoxide diffusion capacity (DLCO)], Modified Medical Research Council (MMRC) dyspnea scale score, 6-minute walking distance (6MWD), blood gas indicators [arterial partial pressure of oxygen (PaO₂) and arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO₂)],quality of life, and postoperative complication rate. Results: After intervention, the observation group showed significantly higher levels of FEV1, FEV1/FVC, MVV%, DLCO, and 6MWD compared with the control group, while the MMRC score was significantly lower (all p < 0.05). Regarding blood gas indicators, the observation group had a significantly higher PaO₂ level and a significantly lower PaCO₂ level than the control group (p < 0.05).Additionally, the quality of life score in the observation group was significantly higher, and the postoperative complication rate was significantly lower than those in the control group (both p < 0.05). Conclusion: Preoperative lung rehabilitation training combined with nutritional intervention can effectively improve pulmonary function and respiratory function in patients with moderate to severe COPD complicated by lung cancer, enhance their surgical tolerance, improve quality of life, and reduce the incidence of postoperative complications.
Keywords: Nutritional intervention, Preoperative lung rehabilitation training, COPD complicated with lung cancer, Pulmonary Function, Surgical tolerance
Received: 16 Jul 2025; Accepted: 29 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Hu, Cheng and Guo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Qiucheng Guo, gc_0651@163.com
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