Pulmonary complications after subtotal oesophagectomy

The postoperative pulmonary complications in 25 patients undergoing subtotal oesophagectomy for intrathoracic oesophageal carcinoma during the 3-year period 1981-1983 were compared with those of 25 patients undergoing surgery from 1984 to 1986. Although more extensive lymphadenectomies were performed from 1984, the mortality rate caused by the postoperative pulmonary complications was zero in the later period (1984-1986) compared with a rate of 16 per cent in the earlier period (1981-1983). The incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications was lower in the later series but the difference was not statistically significant. Factors which may have contributed to the decrease in critical pulmonary complications after surgery during the later period were the selection of the posterior mediastinal route for reconstruction, the introduction of selective endobronchial intubation by a double lumen tube with combined epidural anaesthesia, fluid restriction during and after surgery, postoperative mobilization and the administration of an expectorant.