Abstract
Background Although infectious complications occur occasionally after lung lobectomy, some of
them are overlooked if the pathogen or origin is unidentifiable.
Methods We retrospectively reviewed 425 patients who underwent lobectomy for lung cancer.
Infectious complications developed in 61 patients who consequently underwent empiric
therapy: 44 had an identifiable focus and 17 did not irrespective of systemic surveillance.
Results The 17 patients without an identifiable focus were predominantly patients with squamous
cell carcinoma, a smoking history, large tumor size, and undergoing lower lobectomy.
These 17 patients were able to be distinguished from those without infectious complications
with a sensitivity of 88% and a specificity of 98% based on the patient's body temperature,
C-reactive protein, and white blood cell count. The median onset of the 17 patients
was 8 days (5–30 days) after operation. None of these 17 patients had air leak for
more than 3 days, major cardiopulmonary complications, superficial surgical site infection,
organ-specific symptoms (e.g., cough and diarrhea), or increased dead space size.
Inflammatory markers were normalized by antibiotics alone in 14 of the 17 patients,
while the condition of the remaining 3 worsened to empyema that required some intervention.
One patient eventually died after thoracoscopic debridement.
Conclusion Postoperative acute onset of infectious complication without any specific symptoms
or any identifiable focus should be included in a separate category of complications.
We must clarify the pathology of this complication (e.g., occult bronchopleural fistula),
but for now, careful management is mandatory, as therapeutic failure can lead to a
fatal outcome.
Keywords
postoperative infection - lobectomy - lung cancer - empyema - bronchopleural fistula
