Introduction: A mastectomy is a surgical procedure involving the removal of all or part of the breast. Mastectomy classifies into partial, simple, modified-radical, and radical. Other variations in terminology or technique include skin-sparing mastectomy and nipple-sparing mastectomy, which are techniques that often accompany breast reconstruction. Mastectomy leads to cardiac and pulmonary complications due to lack of lung inflation which include respiratory dysfunction, pleural effusion, lung collapse etc. Chest expansion measurements are used to evaluate the patient’s baseline status, treatment effectiveness and progression of respiratory disease with regards to chest wall mobility and respiratory muscle function.
Method: 30 sample sizes were undergone modified radical mastectomy surgery which was randomly divided as follows: 15 subjects performed flow-oriented incentive spirometer group, and other 15 subjects performed volume-oriented incentive spirometer group. All of them underwent evaluations and Data was obtained by measuring chest expansion with chest exposed and with the help of non-stretchable inch tape the chest expansion was measured at three levels that is 2nd intercostal space (Axilla level), 4th intercostal space (Nipple level), and xiphoid process.
Results: A total of 30 patients who underwent modified radical mastectomy were randomly divided into two groups; Group A (flow incentive spirometry) and Group B (volume incentive spirometry), with 15 patients in each group. Chest expansion was measured at three anatomical levels—axillary, nipple line, and xiphoid—on Day 1 (pre-intervention) and Day 7 (post-intervention). Within-group comparison: Group A (FIS): Showed a moderate increase in chest expansion at all three levels. The average improvement at the axillary level was 0.8±0.3 cm, nipple level 0.9±0.4 cm, and xiphoid level 0.7±0.3 cm. Group B (VIS): Demonstrated a significantly greater increase. The average improvement was 1.3±0.4 cm at axillary, 1.5±0.5 cm at nipple, and 1.2±0.4 cm at xiphoid.
Conclusion: The study concluded that,” Volume-incentive spirometry is more effective than Flow-incentive spirometry in improving chest expansion in Modified radical mastectomy surgery patients.”