Incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications in a group of smoking patients compared to a group of nonsmoking patients

Forty subjects who had had abdominal surgery under general anesthesia were studied in the postoperative period for incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications. The group was divided into smokers and non-smokers. Incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications were determined and compared between the two groups. The null hypothesis was used in this study and stated: "There will be no significant difference in the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications in a group of smokers as compared to a group on non-smoker." Statistical analysis was done by the Mantel-Haenszel and Fisher-Exact tests at the p > 0.05 significant level. Subject in each study group were evaluated on the first three consecutive postoperative days at 24 hour intervals. Evaluation was done in four categories: temperature, lung sounds, cough, and respiratory rate. Criteria for evaluation of the subject had been established in each area for each 24 hour interval. The incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications was based on the number of subjects who did not meet the criteria in each category for each day. The results of this study allowed for null hypothesis to be accepted for the first day and rejected for the second and third day. Significant differences between the two study group were found in the categories of lung sounds and cough on the second day, and cough on the third day. Temperature and respiratory rate did not exhibit any significant differences on any of the study days. Further investigation should be done in this area by identifying preoperative and/or postoperative nursing interventions for smokers designed to decrease the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications in this group.