PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Smetana, Gerald W.
TI  - Postoperative pulmonary complications: An update on risk assessment and reduction
AID  - 10.3949/ccjm.76.s4.10
DP  - 2009 Nov 01
TA  - Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine
PG  - S60--S65
VI  - 76
IP  - 10 suppl 4
4099  - http://www.ccjm.org/content/76/10_suppl_4/S60.short
4100  - http://www.ccjm.org/content/76/10_suppl_4/S60.full
SO  - Cleve Clin J Med2009 Nov 01; 76
AB  - Postoperative pulmonary complications are common, serious, and expensive. Important predictors of risk are advanced age, poor health as assessed by American Society of Anesthesiologists class, and surgery near the diaphragm. Effective strategies to reduce risk include postoperative lung expansion techniques, preoperative intensive inspiratory muscle training, postoperative thoracic epidural analgesia, selective rather than routine use of nasogastric tubes, and laparoscopic rather than open bariatric surgery.