Aspirating sputum lavation through fiberbronchoscope for enhanced recovery after lung cancer surgery

Abstract:

Objective：To investigate the effect of aspirating sputum lavation through fiberbronchoscope on enhanced recovery after surgery in patients with lung cancer. Methods：Two hundred lung cancer patients received surgery in our department from January 2014 to December 2015 were enrolled. These patients were divided into group 1（100 cases with aspirating sputum lavation through fiberbronchoscope and physical therapy） and group 2（100 cases with only physical therapy）. The clinical outcomes of hospital length of stay，hospital costs，the incidence of lung infection，and infection indicators of white blood cells，neutrophils cell ratio，procalcitonin were evaluated by accessing laboratory examination. Results：Compared with cases in group 2，patients in group 1 was associated with decreased postoperative hospital length of stay[（7.28±1.84） days vs. （8.07±1.83） days，P=0.010]，incidence of lung infection （5% vs. 16%，P=0.011），and hospital costs（P=0.009）. For infection indicators，procalcitonin significantly decreased on postoperative 3 days in group 1（P=0.031）. For patients in group 1，body temperature（P<0.05） and white blood cells（P<0.05） were significantly more ap－proximate to normal value on postoperative 3 to 4 days，and neutrophils cell ratio（P<0.05） on postoperative 3 to 5 days. Conclusion：Aspirating sputum lavation through fiberbronchoscopy could ameliorate airway inflammation，consequently reducing lung infections，hospital costs，and hospital length of stay and achieving enhanced recovery after surgery in patients with lung cancer.