Postoperative respiratory complications of video-assisted thoracic surgery for lung cancer.
OBJECTIVE
We analyzed the risk factors predisposing patients to develop postoperative respiratory complications (PRCs) in VATS lobectomy and segmentectomy for lung cancer, retrospectively.


METHODS
Both univariate and multivariate analyses of PRCs were performed in seventy-five patients who had undergone VATS lobectomy and segmentectomy for lung cancer from November 1994 to December 2000.


RESULTS
Univariate analysis of the development of PRCs revealed that the significant risk factors were age, ppo%VC, ppo%FEV, ppoFEV, poor pulmonary function, and duration of surgery. Multivariate logistic regression test in regard to the development of PRCs revealed that duration of surgery was the most significant risk factor. On the basis of the receiver operator characteristic analysis, duration of surgery more than 297 min had a sensitivity of 70% and a specificity of 66% for the development of PRCs.


CONCLUSIONS
The duration of surgery should be less than five hours not to lose advantages of VATS lobectomy and segmentectomy. Therefore, if the duration of surgery is more than five hours for any reasons, conversion to limited thoracotomy or muscle-sparing methods is recommended.
Haraguchi
Shuji
S
Department of Surgery, Nippon Medical School Second Hospital, 1-396 Kosugi-cho, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa 211-8533, Japan. shuji@nms.ac.jp
Koizumi
Kiyoshi
K
Hatori
Nobuo
N
Hioki
Masafumi
M
Yamashita
Koji
K
Akiyama
Hirohiko
H
Hirata
Tomomi
T
Hirai
Kyoji
K
Mikami
Iwao
I
Kubokura
Hirotoshi
H
Tanaka
Shigeo
S
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015984:Causality; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011013:Pneumonectomy / Q000379:methods*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D020775:Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted; D013997:Time Factors