[Evaluation of the risk of pulmonary complications after abdominal surgery]

Pulmonary complications are frequent after abdominal surgery. The object of this study was to evaluate the incidence and the predisposing factors of the postoperative pulmonary complications with a particular attention to their definitions. It included 146 patients. The respiratory complications were separated into clinical complications (bronchitis), radiological complications (atelectasis) and hypoxaemia (PaO2 less than 70 mmHg). Clinical complications (23%) were correlated neither with radiological complications (57%) nor hypoxaemia (46%). They particularly occurred in patients with a preoperative history of respiratory disease. Preoperative risk factors were males, low PaO2 and decreased FEV1. Radiological complications were strongly correlated with postoperative hypoxaemia. Their incidence was not affected by a previous history of respiratory disease. Both radiological complications and hypoxaemia were predicted by age.