Dyspnea and Fatigue Following Video-assisted Thoracic Surgery for Pulmonary Lobectomy： Measuring Scales to Optimize the Allocation of Resources

To the Editor： The efficacy of minimally invasive techniques for pulmonary lobectomy is gaining a great interest in literature. Recently, new surgical strategies and technical improvements have been reported for video-assisted thoracic surgery （VATS）. Furthermore, postoperative physiotherapeutic aspects are a source of interest; it has been observed that the walking distance, calculated as the mean score on the 6-min walk test （6MWT） preoperatively, represents a predictive measure for the onset of possible postoperative complications following pulmonary lobectomy. Nevertheless, the suitability of the 6MWT during the early postoperative period is limited by common functional limitations that are normally present after surgery, including the possible need for oxygen supplementation during the first days postoperatively and the presence of thoracic drainage.