Perioperative oral management can prevent postoperative pneumonia after lung cancer surgery

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of perioperative oral management to prevent postoperative pneumonia after lung cancer surgery. Method: A total of 100 consecutive patients who underwent thoracoscopic lobectomy for primary lung cancer from April 2013 and March 2015 in our institute were examined. We compared 50 cases each before and after introduction of perioperative oral management about postoperative course retrospectively. Results: There were no significant differences in the patients' backgrounds, tumors, or operative conditions. Postoperative complications occurred in 5 patients (10.0%) in the oral management group and 16 patients (32.0%) in the no management group, and postoperative pneumonia occurred in 6 patients (12.0%) in the no management group but in no patient in the oral management group. Fever after surgery developed in fewer patients in the oral management group and the average CRP level at 7 POD tended to lower in the oral management group. The length of the postoperative hospital stay was shorter in the oral management group compared with no management group. Conclusion: Perioperative oral management may have an effect to prevent postoperative pneumonia, and it should be introduced universally.