Sublobectomy versus lobectomy for postoperative cough-related quality of life and recovery in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer patients: a longitudinal study.
Abstract Background To quantitatively evaluate postoperative cough regarding changes in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and recovery trajectory with the Leicester Cough Questionnaire in Mandarin-Chinese (LCQ-MC) in patients undergoing video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods Overall, 156 patients with NSCLC underwent either VATS lobectomy or VATS sublobectomy; LCQ-MC was used to report the impact of postoperative cough on HRQOL for 6 months after discharge. Recovery from postoperative cough was defined as LCQ-MC scores returning to preoperative levels. The sensitivity of LCQ-MC to changes in postoperative cough recovery over time was evaluated via its ability to distinguish between surgery types. Results The VATS sublobectomy group reported significantly higher mean LCQ-MC scores 1 month after discharge, but without no significant differences postoperatively at 3 and 6 months after discharge, and returned to preoperative physical (69 vs. 99 days), psychological (67 vs. 99 days), social (50 vs. 98 days) and total (69 vs. 99 days) scores faster than the VATS lobectomy group (all p <0.05). Conclusion The LCQ-MC can adequately assess the impact of postoperative cough on HRQOL. Routine monitoring of postoperative cough recovery through LCQ-MC scores could be added to enhanced recovery after surgery.
