[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to determine whether forced expiration is
correlated with abdominal muscle thickness. [Subjects] Twenty-three healthy male
volunteers participated in this study. [Methods] The peak expiratory flow (PEF) was
obtained using a peak flow meter with subjects in the sitting position. The thicknesses of
the right rectus abdominis, external oblique, internal oblique, and transverse abdominis
muscles were measured using B-mode ultrasonography at the end of a relaxed expiration in
the supine position. [Results] Among the abdominal muscles, only the thickness of the
external oblique muscle displayed a significant correlation with PEF. [Conclusion] It
appears that the thickness of the external oblique muscle might be associated with PEF
during forced expiration.
Our results indicate that the rectus abdominis muscle thickness might be more highly correlated with expiratory pressure production than the external oblique, internal oblique, and transverse abdominis muscle thickness.
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