Preoperative Pulmonary Evaluation and Evaluation of Postoperative Pulmonary Complications in Geriatric Patients Undergoing Spinal Surgery

Abstract

Background: The number of elderly (geriatric) population is increasing day by day and it becomes important in geriatric diseases and surgeries. It is predicted that approximately half of the population over the age of 65 will require surgical intervention during their lifetime in western societies in the following years. For this reason, he wanted to show that postoperative morbidity and mortality can be reduced with a careful preoperative pulmonary evaluation in this patient group, which we now encounter more frequently in pulmonology practice. Objective: We aimed to examine the preoperative pulmonary risk assessment and the type of operation performed in geriatric patients who underwent spinal surgery, and its effect on postoperative complications and mortality in relation to the geriatric age group of the patient in the light of the literature. Methods: Preoperative and postoperative consultations of 341 geriatric spinal surgery patients were retrospectively reviewed. Geriatric age group, gender, existing diseases, preoperative pulmonary risk class, type and duration of surgery, type of anesthesia (all patients were operated under general anesthesia), peroperative and postoperative complications were recorded. Results: The mean age was 75.28 ± 6.091 (65 93). . When the patients with chronic disease in the preoperative period and died in the post operative period were evaluated, a statistically significant difference was observed in the elderly group in terms of mortality rates in the presence of malignancy alone, COPD or CHF disease compared to other age groups. Postoperative respiratory complications were observed in 35 (10.3%) patients. Respectively, 13 (3.81%) patients had pneumonia, 12 (3.51%) patients had atelectasis, 7 (2.05%) patients had embolism, and 3 (0.87%) patients had respiratory failure. There was a statistically significant increase in mortality rate in postoperative complications and death rates in direct proportion to age. Conclusions: These complications can be minimized by better pulmonary preoperative risk assessment.

Keywords: Spinal surgery in geriatric patients, Preoperative pulmonary evaluation, Postoperative pulmonary risk '

DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/78-04