"Liuzijue" Qigong training enhances early pulmonary function recovery after esophageal cancer surgery

Table 4 Comparison of changes in pulmonary function and functional indicators in esophageal cancer patients during the perioperative period between groups, mean ± SD

Variable	Overall (n = 306)	Control group (n = 163)	Experimental group (n = 143)	P value
∆Forced vital capacity	408.5 ± 93.0	326.5 ± 26.7	502.1 ± 35.0	< 0.001
∆FEV1	559.3 ± 152.5	434.4 ± 90.8	701.7 ± 47.1	< 0.001
∆FEV1 to forced vital capacity ratio	4.4 ± 19.9	5.3 ± 20.4	3.5 ± 19.3	0.435
∆Diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide	2.7 ± 1.8	2.6 ± 1.8	2.8 ± 1.8	0.305
∆Maximum voluntary ventilation	16.8 ± 11.1	14.4 ± 10.1	19.4 ± 11.7	< 0.001
∆Total lung capacity	340.0 ± 699.8	306.4 ± 675.8	378.2 ± 726.7	0.371
∆Functional residual capacity	-739.6 ± 733.4	-759.2 ± 736.4	-717.3 ± 731.9	0.619
∆6-minute walk distance	45.0 ± 12.6	44.9 ± 12.7	45.0 ± 12.5	0.896
∆Modified Borg scale	-1.0 (-2 to 1)	-1.0 (-2 to 1)	-1.0 (-2 to 1)	0.815

Δ denotes the preoperative to postoperative change in measured values. FEV₁: Forced expiratory volume in 1 second.