• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.129-147
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• 1994

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of deep breathing exercise with Incentive Spirometer on the pulmonary ventilatory function of postoperative patients. This experiment was operated by quasi-experimental design which was compared pre-experimental measures with post-experimental ones. The subject of this study was 46 inpatients who were scheduled for elective upper abdominal surgery under the general anesthesia in P National University Hospital in Pusan and classified into the experimental group(23 patients) and control group(23 patients) by using Incentive Spirometer or unusing one. The data were collected from November, 1, 1993, to December, 31, 1993. The effects of the deep breathing exercise on the pulmonary ventilatory function were compared between experimental group who were recieved deep breathing exercise with Incentive Spirometer and control group who were recieved same method without Incentive Spirometer. The Forced Vital Capacity (FVC) and the First Second Forced Expiratory Volume ($FEV_1$) were represented as index of the pulmonary ventilatory function and those were measured by Vitalograph Compact. The collected data were analysed by SPSS/PC+ (percentage, average, standard deviation, chi-square test, t-test, and ANOVA). The results were as follow : (1) The $FVC_s$ of the experimental group were significantly increased in course of time, 24, 48, 72 hours after surgery(F=3.530, P=0.035). (2) The $FVC_s$ and $FEV_{1S}$ of the control group were significantly increased in course of time, 24, 48, 72 hours after surgery ($FVC_s$ : F=3.480, P=0.037, $FEV_{1S}$ : F=6. 153, P=0.004). (3) The FVC which was measured at 72 hours after surgery was significantly higher in the experimental group than in the control group(t=2.620, P=0.013). (4) The $FEV_{1s}$ which were measured at 24 and 72 hours after surgery were significantly higher in the experimental group than in the control group(24hr. : t=2.530, P=0.017, 72hr. : t=2.540, P=0.016). (5) Among general characteristics, sex was significant variable which influenced to effect of pulmonary ventilatory function. In conclusion, this study showed that the deep breathing exercise with Incentive Spirometer was more effective to recover the pulmonary ventilatory function after surgery than the deep breathing exercise without Incentive Spirometer.