[Short-stay lung resection surgery]

We report a prospective study applying a short-stay lung resection program for all patients requiring such surgery with the aim of shortening mean hospital stay in our service (9.5 days) by half. All patients who underwent surgery from November 1998 to November 1999 requiring lung resection surgery were enrolled in the short-stay study, classified in two groups. Group A met the criteria for enrollment and a stay of 5 days was predicted. Group B were those who did not meet the criteria marked by the program and for whom a 5-day stay could not be predicted. Sixty-four patients were enrolled (25 in group A [39.1%] and 39 in group B [60.9%]). After application of the program, the mean stay for all 64 patients was 6.4 days, with group A patients staying a mean 5.3 days and group B patients staying a mean 7.1 days.