Post-operative Pulmonary Complications following Laparotomy for Acute Abdomen: An Observational Study at a Tertiary Care Institute in Tripura

Background: Post-operative pulmonary complication (PPC) encompasses almost any complication affecting the respiratory system after anaesthesia and surgery.It constitutes a remarkable amount of morbidity and mortality related to surgery and anaesthesia and may lead to longer stay in the hospital.Therefore, present study was designed to investigate pulmonary complications in patients undergoing laparotomy for acute abdomen, estimate the proportion of complications, and evaluate post-operative outcomes.Methods: This observational study involved assessing patients admitted for acute abdominal conditions requiring laparotomy, preparing them for surgery, monitoring postoperative complications through clinical and radiological assessments, obtaining ethical approval and informed consent, and performing statistical analysis on the collected data.Results: In our study, patients above 50 years are mostly developing PPC with male preponderance.The patients, who underwent laparotomy for peptic perforation developed PPC mostly.Correlation was observed in patients with co-morbidities.A significance of 0.02 was noted for BMI.The patients, who developed pulmonary complications had more days of ICU stay.Atelectasis was the most common complication (40%) followed by respiratory tract infections (35%).The death rate in our study was 4%, out of which 75% was due to pulmonary complications. Conclusion-The study found a 20% incidence of post-operative complications in laparotomy patients, with males and those with comorbidities at higher risk.PPC was associated with increased morbidity and mortality rates, emphasizing the need for preventive measures and further research on PPC strategies.