Risk factors of postoperative nosocomial pneumonia in stage I-IIIa lung cancer patients

Diagnostic value of systematic bronchial aspirate on postoperative pneumonia after pulmonary resection surgery for lung cancer: a monocentre retrospective study

OBJECTIVES

Intraoperative bacterial airway colonization seems to be associated with an increased risk of postoperative pneumonia (POP). It can be easily assessed by performing a bronchial aspirate (BA). The objective of this study is to assess the diagnostic performance of the BA to predict POP.

METHODS

We conducted a single-centre retrospective observational study over a period of 10 years, from 1 January 2011 to 30 December 2020. The population study included patients admitted for a scheduled pulmonary resection surgery for lung cancer. Patients were classified into 2 populations depending on whether or not they developed a POP. Uni- and multivariable analyses were performed to identify risk factors for developing POP. The diagnostic performance of BA was represented by its sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values.

RESULTS

A total of 1006 patients were included in the study. Uni- and multivariable analyses found that a positive BA was independently associated with a greater risk of developing POP with an odds ratio of 6.57 [4.165-10.865]; P < 0.001. Its specificity was 95%, sensitivity was 31%, positive predictive value was 66% and negative predictive value was 81%.

CONCLUSIONS

A positive intraoperative BA is an independent risk factor for POP after lung cancer surgery. Further trials are required to validate the systematic implementation of BA as an early diagnostic tool for POP.

Evaluation of gastroesophageal reflux disease and hiatal hernia as risk factors for lobectomy complications

Objective

Up to 40% of lobectomies are complicated by adverse events. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and hiatal hernia have been associated with morbidity across a range of clinical scenarios, yet their relation to recovery from pulmonary resection is understudied. We evaluated GERD and hiatal hernia as predictors of complications after lobectomy for lung cancer.

Methods

Lobectomy patients at Yale-New Haven Hospital between January 2014 and April 2021 were evaluated for predictors of 30-day postoperative complications, pneumonia, atrial arrhythmia, readmission, and mortality. Multivariable regression models included sociodemographic characteristics, body mass index, surgical approach, cardiopulmonary comorbidities, hiatal hernia, GERD, and preoperative acid-suppressive therapy as predictors.

Results

Overall, 824 patients underwent lobectomy, including 50.5% with a hiatal hernia and 38.7% with GERD. The median age was 68 [interquartile range, 61-74] years, and the majority were female (58.4%). At least 1 postoperative complication developed in 39.6% of patients, including atrial arrhythmia (11.7%) and pneumonia (4.1%). Male sex (odds ratio [OR], 1.51; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.11-2.06, P = .01), age ≥70 years (OR, 1.55; 95% CI, 1.13-2.11, P = .01), hiatal hernia (OR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.03-1.90, P = .03), and intraoperative packed red blood cells (OR, 4.80; 95% CI, 1.51-15.20, P = .01) were significant risk factors for developing at least 1 postoperative complication. Hiatal hernia was also a significant predictor of atrial arrhythmia (OR, 1.64; 95% CI, 1.02-2.62, P = .04) but was not associated with other adverse events.

Conclusions

Our findings indicate that hiatal hernia may be a novel risk factor for complications, especially atrial arrhythmia, following lobectomy that should be considered in the preoperative evaluation of lung cancer patients.

Factors predicting non-ventilated hospital-acquired pneumonia: systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) results in approximately 15-20% of all infections in hospitals, with more than two-thirds being in patients not using mechanical ventilation. The incidence of non-ventilated hospital-acquired pneumonia (NVHAP) is increasing, and it is associated with a longer length of stay, the need for intensive care unit hospitalization and mechanical ventilation use, and higher mortality.

AIM

To identify, quantify, and summarize predictive factors for NVHAP in adult patients admitted to non-intensive care units as determined by previous observational studies.

METHODS

PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and LILACS were systematically searched. Case-control and cohort studies were included, and a meta-analysis was performed for all factors studied more than once. National Institute of Health assessment tools were applied to assess the quality of the studies.

FINDINGS

Thirty-eight articles showing 204 predictive factors were included. A meta-analysis was performed for 58 factors, 32 of which were significantly associated with NVHAP. When the sensitivity analysis was performed without poor-quality studies, 24 factors remained associated with NVHAP.

CONCLUSION

Although there is a lack of good-quality studies to establish predictive factors for NVHAP, the results of this study showed 24 factors associated with the development of this infectious complication. Knowledge of the significant predictive factors for NVHAP will enable the identification of patients most likely to develop it.

Impact of diabetes mellitus on postoperative outcomes in individuals with non-small-cell lung cancer: A retrospective cohort study

OBJECTIVES

Studies showing that individuals with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and diabetes mellitus (DM) have reported poor outcomes after pulmonary resection with varying results. Therefore, we investigated the clinical impact of preoperative DM on postoperative morbidity and survival in individuals with resectable NSCLC.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Data of individuals who underwent pulmonary resection for NSCLC from 2000 to 2015 were extracted from the database of Kyoto University Hospital. The primary endpoint was the incidence of postoperative complications, and secondary endpoints were postoperative length of hospital stay and overall survival. The survival rate was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method.

RESULTS

A total of 2,219 patients were eligible for the study. The median age of participants was 67 years. Among them, 39.5% were women, and 259 (11.7%) presented with DM. The effect of DM on the incidence of postoperative complications and postoperative length of hospital stay was not significant. Although the 5-year survival rates were similar in both patients with and without DM (80.2% versus 79.4%; p = 0.158), those with DM who had a hemoglobin A1c level ≥ 8.0% had the worst survival.

CONCLUSIONS

In individuals with resectable NSCLC, preoperative DM does not influence the acute phase postoperative recovery. However, poorly controlled preoperative DM could lead to low postoperative survival rates.

Smoking is associated with pneumonia development in lung cancer patients

Background

Various host factors can promote pneumonia susceptibility of lung cancer patients. However, data about risk factors for pneumonia in lung cancer patients receiving active treatments such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgical intervention are limited. Thus, the purpose of this study was to identify risk factors for pneumonia development in lung cancer patients.

Methods

The present study used a lung cancer cohort of the Catholic Medical Center at the Catholic University of Korea from January 2015 to December 2018. Pneumonia was defined by the presence of a new or progressive infiltration on chest imaging together with any of the following: new onset purulent sputum, change in character of chronic sputum, and fever. We ruled out noninfectious infiltration such as drug or radiation toxicity and hydrostatic pulmonary edema. We especially excluded those if computed tomography revealed sharp demarcation consolidation or ground glass opacity limited radiation field.

Results

A total of 413 patients were enrolled in this study. Pneumonia occurred in 118 (28.6%) patients. The pneumonia group had significantly worse overall survival (OS) than the non-pneumonia group (456.7 ± 35.0 days vs. 813.4 ± 36.1 days, log rank p < 0.001). In patients with pneumonia, OS was shorter in ex-smokers and current smokers than in never smokers (592.0 ± 101.0 days vs. 737.0 ± 102.8 days vs. 1357.0 days, log rank p < 0.001). Age (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.046; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.019–1.074; p = 0.001), clinical stage IV (HR: 1.759; 95% CI: 1.004–3.083; p = 0.048), neutropenia (HR: 2.620; 95% CI: 1.562–4.396; p < 0.001], and smoking (HR: 2.040; 95% CI: 1.100–3.784; p = 0.024) were independent risk factors of pneumonia development in lung cancer patients in multivariate analysis. In subgroup analysis for patients treated with chemotherapy, age (HR: 1.043; 95% CI: 1.012–1.074; p = 0.006), neutropenia (HR: 3.199; 95% CI: 1.826–5.605; p < 0.001), and smoking (HR: 2.125; 95% CI: 1.071–4.216; p = 0.031) were independent risk factors of pneumonia development.

Conclusions

Smoking and neutropenia were risk factors affecting pneumonia development in the total group and subgroup of patients with lung cancer.

The Role of an Array of Routine Clinical Variables to the Occurrence and Severity of Postoperative Pneumonia in Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients

Background and purpose:

Data of an array of preoperative/intraoperative clinical variables may carry significant information for predicting the probability of postoperative pneumonia or chest infection in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. We aimed to investigate the association between those variables and the occurrence of postoperative pneumonia (POP) as well as the severity of POP, based on routine laboratory tests, basic characteristics, and perioperative variables during the in-hospital period.

Methods:

A consecutive series of NSCLC patients undergoing lung cancer lobectomy at our department from January 2014 and December 2015 was used as the target patient group and stratified into 2 groups: pneumonia (POP) and non-pneumonia (N-POP), according to occurrence of pneumonia after lobectomy in 30 days. The POP was classified into 5 severity grades, based on the Clavien-Dindo complication classification system.

Results:

Regarding binary logistic regression analysis for risk factors of POP, the following were found to be the independent risk factors of the occurrence of POP: postoperative predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 second [ppoFEV1%; odds ratio (OR): 0.996, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.993–0.999; P = 0.021]; Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) score &gt;3 (OR: 2.694, 95% CI: 1.462–4.965; P = 0.001); American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA)score &gt;3 (OR: 2.066, 95% CI: 1.060–4.029; P = 0.033); postoperative predicted diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide of the lung (ppoDlco%; OR: 0.458, 95% CI: 0.090–0.809; P = 0.014); and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR; OR: 2.171, 95% CI: 1.721–2.737; P &lt; 0.001). With regard to risk factors analysis of pneumonia severity via ordinal polytomous logistic regression, the following were the independent risk factors: early stage (OR: 0.626, 95% CI: 0.422–0.929, P = 0.020); CCI score &gt;3 (OR: 1.914, 95% CI: 1.058–3.459, P = 0.032); ppoDlco% (OR: 0.638, 95% CI: 0.445–0.914, P = 0.014); and NLR (OR: 1.218, 95% CI: 1.031–1.436, P = 0.020).

Conclusion:

Among an array of clinical variables in the hospital, major risk factors for POP following LC surgery were ppoFEV1%, ppoDlco%, NLR, ASA score &gt;3, and CCI score&gt;3; meanwhile, ppoDlco%, CCI score&gt;3, NLR, and early tumor stage were the key predictors of POP severity.

Postoperative pneumonia among patients with and without COPD in Spain from 2001 to 2015

BACKGROUND

To describe and compare incidence, characteristics and outcomes of postoperative pneumonia among patients with or without COPD.

METHODS

We included hospitalized patients aged ≥40 years whose medical diagnosis included pneumonia and ventilator-associated pneumonia in the secondary's diagnosis field and who were discharged from Spanish hospitals from 2001 to 2015. Irrespectively of the position at the procedures coding list, we retrieved data about the type of surgical procedures using the enhanced ICD-9-CM codes. We grouped admissions by COPD status. The data were collected from the National Hospital Discharge Database.

RESULTS

We included 117,665 hospitalizations of patients that developed postoperative pneumonia (18.06% of them had COPD). The incidence of postoperative pneumonia was significantly higher in COPD patients than in those without COPD (IRR 1.93, 95%CI 1.68-2.24). In hospital-mortality (IHM) was significantly lower in the first group of patients (29.79% vs 31.43%, p < 0.05). Factors independently associated with IHM, among COPD and non-COPD patients, were older age, more comorbidities, mechanical ventilation, pleural drainage tube, red blood cell transfusion, dialysis and emergency room admission. Time trend analysis showed a significant decrease in IHM from 2001 to 2015. COPD was associated with lower IHM (OR 0.91, 95%CI 0.88-0.95).

CONCLUSIONS

The incidence of postoperative pneumonia was higher in COPD patients than in those without this disease. However, IHM was lower among COPD patients. IHM decreased over time, regardless of the existence or not of COPD.

Incidence and risk factors of postoperative pneumonia following cancer surgery in adult patients with selected solid cancer: results of "Cancer POP" study

The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence and risk factors of postoperative pneumonia (POP) within 1 year after cancer surgery in patients with the five most common cancers (gastric, colorectal, lung, breast cancer, and hepatocellular carcinoma [HCC]) in South Korea. This was a multicenter and retrospective cohort study performed at five nationwide cancer centers. The number of cancer patients in each center was allocated by the proportion of cancer surgery. Adult patients were randomly selected according to the allocated number, among those who underwent cancer surgery from January to December 2014 within 6 months after diagnosis of cancer. One‐year cumulative incidence of POP was estimated using Kaplan–Meier analysis. An univariable Cox's proportional hazard regression analysis was performed to identify risk factors for POP development. As a multivariable analysis, confounders were adjusted using multiple Cox's PH regression model. Among the total 2000 patients, the numbers of patients with gastric cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, and HCC were 497 (25%), 525 (26%), 277 (14%), 552 (28%), and 149 (7%), respectively. Overall, the 1‐year cumulative incidence of POP was 2.0% (95% CI, 1.4–2.6). The 1‐year cumulative incidences in each cancer were as follows: lung 8.0%, gastric 1.8%, colorectal 1.0%, HCC 0.7%, and breast 0.4%. In multivariable analysis, older age, higher Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) score, ulcer disease, history of pneumonia, and smoking were related with POP development. In conclusions, the 1‐year cumulative incidence of POP in the five most common cancers was 2%. Older age, higher CCI scores, smoker, ulcer disease, and previous pneumonia history increased the risk of POP development in cancer patients.

Risk factors for postoperative infection in Chinese lung cancer patients: A meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to identify risk factors for postoperative infection in Chinese lung cancer patients.

METHODS

A comprehensive search was performed in PubMed, EMbase, CNKI, and WanFang Data databases to identify studies investigating risk factors for postoperative infection in Chinese lung cancer patients. Meta-analysis was performed by using Revman 5.2 software.

RESULTS

A total of 12 studies were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that old age, male gender, diabetes, cigarette smoking, squamous cell carcinoma, pulmonary diseases, longer of mechanical ventilation, and longer time of surgery procedure were associated with increased risk of postoperative infection. In addition, prophylactic antibiotic was associated with decreased risk of postoperative infection.

CONCLUSION

The current meta-analysis suggests that the old age, male gender, diabetes mellitus, cigarette smoking, squamous cell carcinoma, pulmonary diseases, longer of mechanical ventilation, and longer of surgery time are risk factors for postoperative infection in Chinese lung cancer patients. Due to the limited quality and quantity of included studies, more high-quality studies are needed to verify the above results.

The Epidemiology and Risk Factors for Postoperative Pneumonia

Postoperative pneumonia is a common complication of surgery, and is associated with marked morbidity and mortality. Despite advances in surgical and anesthetic technique, it persists as a frequent postoperative complication. Many studies have aimed to assess its burden, as well as associated risk factors. However, this complication varies among the different surgical specialties, and there is a paucity of reports that comprehensively evaluate this complication. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to review the epidemiology and risk factors of postoperative pneumonia in the setting of: 1) general surgery; 2) cardiothoracic surgery; 3) orthopedic and spine surgery; and 4) head and neck surgery.

Risk factors for postoperative pneumonia after lung cancer surgery and impact of pneumonia on survival

OBJECTIVE

Little is known about risk factors and prognosis for postoperative pneumonia (POP) in patients undergoing therapeutic lung cancer (LC) surgery.

METHODS

We followed a nationwide population-based cohort of 7479 patients with LC surgery in Denmark 1995-2011. We used logistic regression analysis to examine risk factors for POP within 30 days after surgery. Subsequent survival in patients with POP was analyzed with Cox regression.

RESULTS

We identified 268 (3.6%) patients with POP. Important risk factors included advanced age (age ≥80 years: (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 3.64; 95% CI: 2.17-6.12) as compared to patients aged 50-59 years), previous pneumonia (aOR = 2.68; 95% CI: 2.02-3.56), obesity (aOR = 1.91; 95% CI: 0.99-3.69), chronic pulmonary disease (aOR = 1.90; 95% CI: 1.40-2.57), alcoholism (aOR = 1.56; 95% CI: 0.81-3.01), and atrial fibrillation (aOR = 1.42; 95% CI: 0.82-2.45). Overall thoracoscopic surgery halved the risk of POP and the highest risk of POP was seen in pneumonectomy performed in open thoracotomy. Among patients surviving the 30-day postoperative period, 31-365 day mortality was 21.6% in POP patients vs. 16.8% in non-POP patients, and 1-5-year mortality was 62.2% vs. 53.0%. Adjusted 31-365 day hazard ratio (HR) of death with POP was 1.31 (95% CI: 1.00-1.73), and 1-5 year HR was 1.22 (95% CI 0.98-1.53).

CONCLUSION

Major risk factors for POP following LC surgery are advanced age, previous pneumonia, obesity, chronic pulmonary disease, alcoholism, and atrial fibrillation. POP is a clinical marker for decreased LC survival.

Factors influencing ventilator-associated pneumonia in cancer patients

BACKGROUND

With increasing survival periods and diversification of treatment methods, treatment of critically ill cancer patients has become an important factor influencing patient prognosis. Patients with cancer are at high risk of infections and subsequent complications. This study investigated the incidence and factors contributing to the development of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This retrospective study investigated the incidence of VAP and factors leading to infection in patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of a cancer center from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2013.

RESULTS

The incidence of VAP was 2.13 cases per 1,000 days of intubation, and 13 of 288 patients (4.5%) developed VAP. Lung cancer was the most common cancer associated with VAP (N=7, 53.9%), and longer hospital stays and intubation were associated with increased VAP incidence. In the group using a "ventilator bundle," the incidence was 1.14 cases per 1,000 days compared to 2.89 cases per 1,000 days without its use; however, this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.158). Age (≥ 65, OR=5.56, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.29-23.95), surgery (OR=3.78, 95%CI=1.05- 13.78), and tracheotomy (OR=4.46, 95%CI=1.00-19.85) were significant VAP risk factors. The most common causative organisms were methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (N=4, 30.8% each), followed by Acinetobacter baumannii and Candida albicans (N=2, 15.4% each).

CONCLUSIONS

The incidence of pneumonia among critically ill cancer patients is highest in those with lung cancer, but lower than among non-cancer patients. The length of hospital stay and time on mechanical ventilation are important risk factors for development of VAP. Although not statistically significant, "ventilator bundle" care is an effective intervention that delays or reduces incidence of VAP. Major risk factors for VAP include age (≥ 65 years), surgery, and tracheostomy, while fungi, gram-negative bacteria, and multidrug-resistant organisms were identified as the major causative pathogens of VAP in this study.