Duration of anaesthesia, type of surgery, respiratory co-morbidity, predicted VO2max and smoking predict postoperative pulmonary complications after upper abdominal surgery: An observational study

Abstract

Question: Can the risk of developing postoperative pulmonary complications be predicted after upper abdominal surgery? Design: Prospective observational study. Participants: 268 consecutive patients undergoing elective upper abdominal surgery who received standardised pre- and postoperative prophylactic respiratory physiotherapy. Outcome measures: Predictors were 17 preoperative and intraoperative risk factors. A postoperative pulmonary complication was diagnosed when four or more of the following criteria were present: radiological evidence of collapse/consolidation, temperature > 38°C, oxyhaemoglobin saturation < 90%, abnormal sputum production, sputum culture indicating infection, raised ..