Effect of Yiqi Bufei Recipe (益气补肺方) on patients with pulmonary incompetence after pneumonectomy

Objective To study the effect of Yiqi Bufei Recipe (益气补肺方, YBR) on surgical tolerability, pulmonary compensatory function and post-operation rehabilitation in patients with pulmonary incompetence (PI) after pneumonectomy. Methods YBR intervention was applied to 60 patients with PI after pneumonectomy (as test group), the pulmonary and cardiac functions changes before and after operation, occurrence of postoperative complications, mortality, and the number of hospitalization days and intensive care unit (ICU) confinement period were observed. Meantime, for the negative and positive controls, the same parameters were observed comparatively in 60 patients with normal lung function, and in 60 patients with PI undergoing a similar operation but untreated with Chinese herbs. Results Lung function in the test group showed insignificant change before and after operation ( P >0.05), while significant decrease was seen in the two control groups ( P <0.05). Furthermore, the incidences of post-operation complications and mortality as well as the number of hospitalization days and the ICU confinement period in the test group were significantly lower than those in the positive control group respectively ( P <0.05). Conclusion YBR could relieve lung injury after pneumonectomy, improve surgical tolerability, reduce the length of postoperative hospitalization days and ICU confinement period, and lower the incidence of postoperative complications and mortality in patients with PI after pneumonectomy.