Postoperative pneumonia incidence varies widely across surgical specialties, ranging from 0.45% to 54%, with older age, poor lung function, and blood transfusions being common risk factors.
Postoperative pneumonia remains a frequent complication across various surgical specialties, strongly associated with older age, COPD, and specific procedural factors.
Postoperative pneumonia is a common complication of surgery, and is associated with marked morbidity and mortality. Despite advances in surgical and anesthetic technique, it persists as a frequent postoperative complication. Many studies have aimed to assess its burden, as well as associated risk factors. However, this complication varies among the different surgical specialties, and there is a paucity of reports that comprehensively evaluate this complication. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to review the epidemiology and risk factors of postoperative pneumonia in the setting of: 1) general surgery; 2) cardiothoracic surgery; 3) orthopedic and spine surgery; and 4) head and neck surgery.
Chughtai et al. (2017) conducted a review in Postoperative pneumonia. Postoperative pneumonia incidence varies widely across surgical specialties, ranging from 0.45% to 54%, with older age, poor lung function, and blood transfusions being common risk factors.