Incidence and risk factors for postoperative pulmonary complications in patients undergoing thoracic and abdominal...

to determine the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications in patients undergoing abdominal and thoracic surgery and investigate the risk factors for their occurrence.

we conducted a prospective, observational and analytical study with all the patients undergoing thoracic and abdominal surgeries at the Santo Antônio Hospital in Blumenau, SC. We collected data from medical records and structured interviews with patients, regarding the characteristics of patients and procedures. The outcome variable was the occurrence of postoperative pulmonary complications in the medical record.

we studied 314 patients, 65.6% female, with an average age of 46.61 years. Of the sample, 51.6% was ASA II, 55.7% of the surgeries were performed by laparoscopy or thoracoscopy, 85.4% were in the abdomen, and 61.5% were potentially contaminated and of medium-scale procedures. The average time of surgery was 126.65 minutes and the average length of hospital stay was 2.59 days. The incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications was 11.5%. The most common complications were respiratory failure, pleural effusion and pneumonia. The most important risk factor were diabetes, hospitalization for more than five days and the presence of pulmonary disease. Patients operated by laparoscopy or thoracoscopy had fewer complications.

postoperative pulmonary complications are frequent and factors associated with greatest risk were diabetes, prolonged hospitalization and presence of previous lung disease.