Postoperative bleeding after surgery in patients with lung cancer

No reports regarding the risk factors for postoperative bleeding after surgery for lung cancer are available presently, and no practical management strategy has been yet developed. The purpose of this study was to determine the risk factors for postoperative bleeding requiring surgery, and we further discuss possible management strategies based on our findings.

Three hundred and sixteen patients with primary lung cancer underwent surgical resection, and we evaluated cases with postoperative bleeding. We examined the relationships between postoperative bleeding and clinicopathological characteristics.

Postoperative bleeding requiring surgery occurred in four (1.3%) out of 316 patients. All four patients had a comorbid condition. No significant correlation was identified between postoperative bleeding and age, gender, smoking status, clinical stage, pathological stage or histology. The incidence of recurrence was higher in those with comorbidities among the bleeding cases. Concerning the intraoperative factors, there were no significant differences in the approach, lesion site, procedure or surgeon.

The cases with postoperative bleeding had a tendency to have more comorbidities compared to non-bleeding cases. The current findings revealed that the handling of blood vessels might be related to the onset of postoperative bleeding.