[Study of the Characteristics of Lung Cancer Surgery Cases in the Elderly and the Usefulness of the Japanese National Clinical Database Risk Calculator].

Introduction: We examined the utility of the National Clinical Database( NCD) risk calculator in assessing the risk of postoperative complications in elderly patients undergoing lung cancer surgery.

Methods: We included 360 cases of primary lung cancer surgery involving lobectomy or more resection performed at our department from May 2012 to December 2021. We divided the patients into two groups based on age (75 years and older, or less than 75 years) and retrospectively analyzed the correlation between the four risk scores of the NCD risk calculator, the incidence of postoperative complications, and the NCD risk calculator.

Results: In the group aged 75 years and older, there was a significant decrease in respiratory function and significantly higher scores on the NCD risk calculator. When comparing the correlation between the presence of postoperative complications and the "death or severe complication score," the area under the curve( AUC) as a risk scoring system was 0.710.

Conclusion: The NCD risk calculator is suggested to be a useful tool for assessing the risk of surgical complications in elderly patients.