title: [Is preoperative systematic chest x-ray useful in general surgery? A multicenter prospective study of 3959 patients. ACAPEM. Association des Chirurgiens de l'Assistance Publique pour les Evaluations Médicales].
abstract: In order to define which patients may not require a routine preoperative chest X-ray, a prospective multicenter study was carried out. It included 3,959 consecutive fifteen, or more, year-old patients, free from any cancer, scheduled for a general or gastrointestinal surgical procedure other than thoracotomy, and had a plain chest X-ray beforehand. This investigation was prescribed before surgery, either by the surgeon or the anaesthetist. Patients were classified according to selected risk factors: age, smoking, emergency surgery, a past history of lung, heart or vascular disease, abnormal clinical findings related to the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, and a previous chest film made less than one year before. There were 2,092 patients in Group I (no risk factors), 916 in group II (one risk factor), 645 in Group III (two risk factors), and 276 in group IV (three risk factors). Three endpoints were selected: a modification of operative schedule or anaesthetic technique, a change in surgical procedure, and the diagnosis of postoperative complications. A rate of 23.2% of preoperative chest films were considered to be abnormal. This rate increased with age and the number of risk factors: 6.2% in Group I and 72.5% in Group IV. Surgical and anaesthetic procedures were modified as a result of the chest X-ray in only 0.5% of patients: 0.1% in Group I, 0.3% in Group II, 1.2% in Group III and 1.4% in Group IV. When pulmonary or cardiac complications did occur after the surgery, the preoperative chest film was of no help for making this diagnosis in more than 50% of cases.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Service de Chirurgie, Hôpital Broussais, Paris.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Bouillot
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Paquet
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Hay
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Coggia
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D011300:Preoperative Care / Q000379:methods*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
vernacular_title: La radiographie thoracique préopératoire systématique en chirurgie générale est-elle utile?