Gerald W Smetana, Valerie A Lawrence, John E Cornell
BACKGROUND: The importance of clinical risk factors for postoperative pulmonary complications and the value of preoperative testing to stratify risk are the subject of debate. PURPOSE: To systematically review the literature on preoperative pulmonary risk stratification before noncardiothoracic surgery. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE search from 1 January 1980 through 30 June 2005 and hand search of the bibliographies of retrieved articles. STUDY SELECTION: English-language studies that reported the effect of patient- and procedure-related risk factors and laboratory predictors on postoperative pulmonary complication rates after noncardiothoracic surgery and that met predefined inclusion criteria...
April 18, 2006: Annals of Internal Medicine