Evaluation of pulmonary function in patients submitted to reduction mammaplasty.

OBJECTIVE To prospectively evaluate the pulmonary function in patients undergoing reduction mammaplasty. METHODS Twelve female patients with Gigantomastia and without medical antecedents were submitted to reduction mammaplasty at our University Hospital. The patients underwent lung function testing and arterial blood gas measurements in the preoperative and postoperative period (three to six months). The data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon test and the level of statistical significance was p <0.05. As for lung function tests,total lung capacity and residual volume were higher postoperatively (p <0.05). RESULTS As for the arterial gases, there was no statistically significant difference. CONCLUSION The increase in total lung capacity and residual volume may suggest a better lung function after reduction mammaplasty for Gigantomastia treatment, although not altering blood gases in healthy patients.