Abdominal binders are used routinely after abdominal operations, and we have therefore studied the changes in pulmonary function caused by their application. The lung volume, its subdivisions and related aspects of pulmonary function have been measured before and after the application of abdominal swathes, and the possible relation of the findings to postoperative pulmonary complications has been considered.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Studies were made on 8 subjects. Six subjects (1 to 6) were normal and ranged in age from 20 to 47 years; 3 (1, 5 and 6) were men. The other 2 subjects (7 and 8), respectively 53 and 59 years old, had pulmonary congestion due to chronic myocardial insufficiency; 1 (7) was a man. The method of Christie,1 slightly modified,2 was used, all measurements on normal subjects being made with the subject recumbent. In the patients with pulmonary congestion, the studies were made with the subject