Analysis of exercise tolerance in patients prior to and on day 2 after adrenalectomy on the basis of the six-minute walk test and the Borg scale.

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Introduction

</b> The analysis of exercise tolerance and physical capacity plays a crucial role in the assessment of recovery and rehabilitation after surgery.<b>Aim:</b> The aim of the study was to assess physical capacity, exercise tolerance prior to and on day 2 after adrenalectomy on the basis of the six-minute walk test (6MWT) and Borg scale.<b>Material and methods:</b> The cohort study included 100 patients with adrenal tumors divided into the study group (SG,n = 50) and control group (CG, n = 50) who underwent adrenalectomy. SG patients met the criterion of inclusion: coexistingcardiovascular, respiratory, or other chronic diseases. The inclusion criteria for CG were the absence of other chronic systemiccomorbidities, age < 65 years. The 6MWT distance and Borg scale ratings (performed the day prior to and on the secondday after surgery) were analyzed according to the age, sex, comorbidities, adrenal and tumor size, hormonal type of adrenaldisease, type of surgery, and occurrence of postoperative complications.<b>

Results

</b> Patients from SG covered significantly shorter distances (487.76 46.72 m in SG and 539.82 17.59 m in CG; p<0.001) anddemonstrated a higher level of exertion (p<0.001) before adrenalectomy and more often discontinued 6MWT after surgeries(p = 0.001) compared to CG. The authors confirmed a significant negative correlation between the age of the patients and sixminute walk distance (6MWD) before the operation in the study (rs = -0.40, p = 0.004) and control (rs = -0.74, p<0.001) groups.A significant decrease in the postoperative 6MWT distance (SG: to 231.35 4192 m, CG: to 236.82 54.10 m) and increasedintensity of dyspnea and fatigue according to the Borg scale were confirmed. SG patients were significantly more likely todevelop postoperative complications (p = 0.002).<b>

Conclusions

</b> 6MWT is a useful tool to demonstrate physical capacity in patients before and after adrenalectomy. Patients with comorbidities more frequently discontinued 6MWT after surgery and had lower tolerance of physical effort compared to CG patients before and after surgery.