PubMed2006
UNLABELLED: Our objective was to describe the incidence of perioperative complications of lung transplantation among patients with emphysema and fibrosis and the morbidity and mortality risk factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective study of 111 lung transplant patients engrafted from 1992 to 2002 for emphysema (n = 65) or lung fibrosis (n = 46). This descriptive study included the most frequent complications during the perioperative period in the intensive care unit. RESULTS: The most frequent intraoperative complications were reperfusion syndrome, hemodynamic instability, and cardiac arrhythmias. Among patients with emphysema, the follow-up of postoperative complications proved statistically significant on univariate analysis for an association of patient mortality with prolonged intubation (P = .005), rejection (P = .0001), hemorrhage (P = .0001), sepsis (P = .0001), renal failure (P = .001), and implantation response (P = .014). Mortality among these patients was 16.9%. Mechanical ventilation for over 48 hours and postoperative hemorrhage were the variables with the greatest predictive value for mortality in the postoperative period. Among patients with fibrosis, the complication-related mortality were reperfusion syndrome (P = .039), implantation response (P = .039), renal failure (P = .013), rejection (P = .016), and sepsis (P < .001). The mortality rate was 23.9% with sepsis (P = .000) being the most frequent cause of death in the immediate postoperative period. CONCLUSIONS: The most frequent intraoperative complications were reperfusion syndrome and hemodynamic instability. The most frequent postoperative complications were implantation response, sepsis, prolonged intubation, hemorrhage, and renal failure.