This poster is published under an
open license. Please read the
disclaimer for further details.
Type:
Educational Exhibit
Keywords:
Surgery, Complications, CT, CT-High Resolution, Conventional radiography, Oncology, Lung, Thorax, Cancer, Abscess, Infection
Authors:
G. Cicchetti1, D. Coviello2, P. Franchi1, M. Mereu3, A. R. Larici1, L. Bonomo1; 1Rome/IT, 2Roma/IT, 3Chieti/IT
DOI:
10.1594/ecr2017/C-2456
Background
Despite advances in surgical and anaesthetic techniques and in postsurgical supportive therapy,
the incidence of complications is still fair until nowadays (24-41%) [1] and mortality varies depending on the type of surgical procedure [2].
Therefore patients undergoing pulmonary resection are always considered at high-risk of developing complications during postoperative period.
Risk factors for complications and mortality are linked to patient’s clinical conditions (older age,
obesity,
comorbidities – especially cardiovascular conditions -,
reduced lung function,
underlying pulmonary disease) and to surgical technique.
The interpretation of radiological features occurring during the postoperative period in patients undergoing thoracic surgery is often made difficult by the variability of possible findings,
most of which are physiological postsurgical changes,
that can be considered normal or “expected”; other findings,
instead,
are real pathological alterations (“not expected”) that represent postsurgical complications.
We can distinguish early complications (within 30 days from the surgery) and late ones (after 30 days) [3],
which differ in type and incidence depending on the surgical procedures and elapsed time from surgery itself.
Therefore,
in order to correctly assess radiological findings,
for the Radiologist it is essential to know the surgical procedure,
the elapsed time from surgery,
together with patient's clinical settings.