Assessment of thoracic mobility in obese adults

Abstract

Introduction: The excess adipose tissue in the thoracic cavity generates mechanical compression, leading to reduction of anatomical dimensions and decreased pulmonary compliance and thoracic, causing diaphragmatic compression and consequently hindering the movement of the thoracic cage in inspiration. Objective: This work has as objective to evaluate the thoracic mobility of obese patients, through the cirtometry measurements and compare with the references of normality. Materials and Methods: Through the cirtometry, a technique that uses a metric tape escalation in centimeters, was measured in three levels (axillary, xiphoid and umbilical) mobility between the maximum inspiration and expiration. Participated in this study 40 volunteers of both genders, 15 males and 25 females, with variations in age between 20 and 65 years and BMI variations between 35,1kg/m(2) and 57.4 kg/m(2). Result: The values of mobility of obese patients obtained in this study were significantly lower than the values predicted. Conclusion: After assessing the mobility of obese, concludes that obesity can interfere in the thoracic mobility throughout the respiratory cycle.