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A risk score for predicting respiratory complications after thoracic surgery

Background Respiratory complications are some of the most common complications following thoracic surgery and can lead to higher perioperative morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this study was to develop a simple clinical score for prediction of respiratory complications after thoracic surgery, and determine the internal validity. Methods In this retrospective cohort study, all consecutive patients were aged 18 years and over and undergoing non-cardiac thoracic surgery at a tertiary-care university hospital. Respiratory complications included bronchospasm, atelectasis, pneumonia, respiratory failure, and adult respiratory distress syndrome within 30 days of surgery or before discharge. Results A total of 1488 patients were included over a 7-year period, and 15.8% (235 of 1488 patients) developed respiratory complications. The significant predictors of respiratory complications were chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, American Society of Anesthesiologist physical status ≥ 3, right-sided surgery, duration of surgery longer than 180 min, preoperative arterial oxygen saturation on room air < 96%, and open thoracotomy. The area under receiving operating characteristic curve was 0.78 (95% confidence interval: 0.75–0.82) and 0.76 (95% confidence interval: 0.70–0.83) for the derivation and validation cohorts, respectively. The model was well calibrated with a Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit of 7.32 (p = 0.293). Conclusions This study developed and internally validated a simple clinical risk score for prediction of respiratory complications following thoracic surgery. This score can be used to stratify high-risk patients, address modifiable risk factors for respiratory complications, and provide preventive strategies for improving postoperative outcomes.