Defining risk of general surgery in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases

The relationship between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and perioperative outcomes remains incompletely understood. Our purpose is to evaluate the features of postoperative adverse outcomes for geriatric surgical patients with COPD receiving non-thoracic surgeries.

To evaluate the potential impact of COPD history on the outcome after general surgery.

A retrospective cohort study with matching procedure by propensity score.

We conducted a nationwide study of 15 359 COPD patients aged 65 years and older who received major non-thoracic surgeries in 2008-2013 from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. Comprehensive matching procedure with propensity score were used to select 15 359 surgical patients without COPD for comparison. Major postoperative complications and 30-day in-hospital mortality were evaluated among patients with and without COPD by calculating adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs.

Patients with COPD had significantly increased risk for postoperative complications, including pneumonia (OR = 90.3; 95% CI: 60.3-135), septicemia (OR = 3.11; 95% CI: 2.82-3.43), acute renal failure (OR = 2.53; 95% CI: 2.11-3.02), pulmonary embolism (OR = 2.74; 95% CI: 1.52-4.96), and 30-day postoperative mortality (adjusted OR = 2.09; 95% CI: 1.76-2.50), compared with surgical patients without COPD. Longer length of hospital stay and higher medical expenditures were also noted in COPD patients than those without COPD.

Geriatric patients with COPD showed significantly higher postoperative adverse outcome rates with risk of 30-day mortality nearly twofold when compared with patients without COPD. Our findings remind surgical care team pay more attention to this specific population.