Pulmonary function after transverse or midline incision in patients with obstructive pulmonary disease

Atelectasis and bronchopneumonia occur frequently in patients undergoing aorto-iliac reconstructive surgery. Transverse (T) incisions in upper abdominal surgery are thought to be followed by fewer pulmonary complications than midline incisions (M) but reports remain controversial. We studied the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications and lung dysfunction after T and M incisions for aorto-iliac surgery in 13 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and 13 control patients with normal lungs (C). For all subjects, we evaluated (1) postoperative clinical or radiological pulmonary events; (2) preoperatively and on postoperative days 2 (D2), 5 (D5), 9 (D9) and 12 (D12) - the forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), vital capacity (VC), alveolar-arterial oxygen difference (AaPO2), and (3) convenience for the surgeon. Operatively, aortic exposure was excellent with both incisions. Bronchopneumonia occurred only after M in five patients (1 C, 4 COPD). In contrast with the control patients in whom no difference was found between T and M incisions, the FEV1 of COPD patients was significantly less impaired with T than with M incisions (p less than 0.005 on D2 and p less than 0.05 on D5). VC decreased similarly with both incisions on D2 but on D5 the improvement was less with M (p less than 0.005). Changes in AaPO2 were more marked on D2 and D5 for the COPD patients with M incisions. We conclude that (1) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, laparotomy with a transverse incision was associated with better postoperative lung function and fewer pulmonary complications; (2) in patients without pulmonary disease, midline and transverse incisions were equivalent.