Comparison of postoperative complications of 60- and 70-year-old patients after lung surgery

This study investigated the association of age and postoperative complications in two different age groups undergoing thoracotomy and pulmonary resection. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of all patients (n=150) older than 60 years who underwent pulmonary operations between January 2000 and December 2001. Group A consisted of 91 patients at the age of 60-69 years. In group B, there were 59 patients older than 70 years. We recorded preoperative assessment, clinical parameters, pre- and postoperative complications. The incidence of postoperative complications were compared between the two age groups using univariate and multivariate analysis. The incidence of postoperative complications in group A was 30% compared to 35.6% in group B. The most frequent complications were: cardiac arrhythmias 9.9% in group A vs. 15.2% in group B, and prolonged air leak 8.8% in group A vs. 8.5% in group B. Thirty days mortality was 0 vs. 1.2%. We concluded that there was no significantly higher incidence of postoperative complications in these two age groups.