Clinical Study of Postoperative Pulmonary Complications Following Abdominal Operations in a Tertiary Care Centre

Abstract

BACKGROUND Abdominal surgery is a challenging field, as the outcome of any operation depends on various factors. Postoperative pulmonary complications lead to prolonged morbidity. Many of patients with postoperative pulmonary complication require ventilatory support for a prolonged period.

Incidence and Associated Factors of Postoperative Pulmonary Complications after Abdominal Surgery in the Public Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

“…Variation of de nitions, preoperative tests to identify the associated risk, criteria used to diagnose, and diverse populations in di erent countries were the major contributory factors for developing postoperative pulmonary complications in a wide range [1]. A study conducted in Nigeria revealed that the rate of postoperative pulmonary complications was 52% and another study conducted in Zimbabwe and Ethiopia showed that 42.4% and 21.7% of patients developed postoperative pulmonary complications [4][5][6][7][8].…”

“…Many studies abroad have identified risk factors for postoperative pulmonary complications. e most identified risks are ASA > III, age ≥ 65 years, history of upper respiratory tract infection, use of general anesthesia, the presence of comorbidities, smoking, alcoholism, low socioeconomic status, desaturation less than 94%, serum albumin less than 3.5 gm/dl, intraoperative bleeding, hemoglobin less than 10 g/dl, intraoperative blood transfusion, prolonged surgery, postoperative mechanical ventilation, long hospital stay, cardiac surgery, history of previous respiratory diseases, poor postoperative pain control, use of neuromuscular blocking drugs, and early ambulation (3,(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15).…”