Predicting postoperative cardio-pulmonary complications by a test of stair climbing.
OBJECTIVE
To assess whether a test of stair climbing ability could be used to predict the risk of developing postoperative cardiopulmonary complications in patients undergoing general anesthesia.


METHODS
Cohort study.


METHODS
The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi. The duration of the study was from December 2003 to December 2004.


METHODS
This study was carried out on consecutive, adult patients presenting for elective thoracic or abdominal surgery under general anesthesia. Pre-operatively, patients were asked to climb a standard staircase. Number of steps climbed was recorded. Those unable to climb stairs due to debilitating cardiac, pulmonary or rheumatologic disease were categorized as 0 stairs climbed. Outcome variables were postoperative cardiopulmonary complications or mortality. Period of follow-up was until hospital discharge.


RESULTS
Seventy-eight patients were enrolled, 59 (75.6%) climbed 1 flight of stairs, 19 (24.3%) climbed < 1 flight. All-cause cardiopulmonary complications rate was 26 %. The most frequent complication was lobar atelectasis, followed by bronchospasm and acute MI. The complication rate was 22.8% in those able to climb 1 flight and 40% in those patients who climbed < 1 flight. The group that climbed < 1 flight tended to have complications associated with poor reserves of the cardiopulmonary systems, i.e. pulmonary edema, exacerbation of underlying lung disease. The relative risk of developing complications, if unable to climb at least 1 flight of stairs, was calculated to be 1.8 (95% CI 0.7 - 4.6).


CONCLUSIONS
Stair climbing can be a useful pre-operative tool to predict the risk of postoperative cardiopulmonary complications.
Salahuddin
Nawal
N
Section of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, The Aga Khan University, Stadium Road. Karachi-74800, Pakistan. nawal.salahuddin@aku.edu
Fatimi
Saulat
S
Salahuddin
Nawal
N
Huda
Shehzad
S
Islam
Mohammad
M
Shafquat
Azam
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000768:Anesthesia, General; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests