Introduction:

Early postoperative pulmonary complications (EPPC) are the main cause of complications unrelated to the surgical procedure in the cardiac surgery population.

Material and methods:

A retrospective, observational and descriptive study was conducted from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2018 in patients undergoing cardiac surgery admitted to the post-surgical care unit.

Results:

323 patients were included, 107 (33.1%) presented EPPC, the most frequent being atelectasis (n = 60, 18.6%), pleural effusion (n = 39, 12%), pneumonia (n = 5, 1.5%) and ARDS (n = 3, 1%). Patients who presented EPPC had a higher EURO SCORE II (3.9 ± 4.7 vs. 2.7 ± 2.2, p = 0.001), longer cardiopulmonary bypass time (119.6 ± 40.2 vs. 75.5 ± 36.6, p = 0.001) and clamping time (84.9 ± 30.5 vs. 53.5 ± 29.7, p = 0.001). The ICU survival of patients with EPPC was lower (74.8 vs. 88.4%, p = 0.002, OR = 2.6). Hospital survival was also lower in patients with EPPC (72.8 vs. 84.2%, p = 0.015).

Conclusions:

The incidence of EPPC after cardiac surgery in our hospital was high. The implementation of preventive measures such as early removal of mechanical ventilation and cardiopulmonary rehabilitation is necessary.

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