Risk factors for postoperative pneumonia in patients undergoing resection for non-small cell lung cancer

of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of using preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), red cell distribution width (RDW), albumin level, and demographic and clinical characteristics to predict the risk of developing postoperative pneumonia in patients operated for non-small cell lung cancer. METHODS This study included 363 patients who underwent elective surgery for non-small cell lung cancer between January 2014 and December 2018. Patient data were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of postoperative pneumonia. RESULTS The mean age was higher (p=0.003) and the rate of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was statistically significantly higher in the postoperative pneumonia group (p=0.031). Preoperative RDW, NLR, and neutrophil values were statistically significantly higher in the postoperative pneumonia group than in the non-postoperative pneumonia group (p<0.05). Preoperative lymphocyte values were statistically significantly lower in the postoperative pneumonia group (p<0.05). Preoperative albumin level were statistically significantly higher in the non-postoperative pneumonia group (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS The results of this study suggest that these predictors are independent risk factors for postoperative pneumonia following lung cancer surgery. However, there is a need for large-scale studies to confirm our results and evaluate whether they can be used to identify high-risk patients for postoperative pneumonia prior to surgery.