Background: There is a relatively high postoperative mortality after lung cancer surgery. However, the alternative is almost 100% mortality within five years if surgery is not performed.
Material and methods: This study is based on data in the Cancer Registry of Norway and information from hospitals where the patients had been treated. From 1993 to 2000, 2528 patients with lung cancer were operated with lung resection.
Results: A total of 188 patients died within 60 days. In 54 of them the cause of death was respiratory failure or pneumonia. There were nine cases with serious intraoperative bleeding with seven deaths, six on the table. Further postoperative bleeding occurred in 27 cases, most often after pneumonectomy. Of these, 10 died because of the bleeding. For 15 patients the cause of death was bronchopleural fistula, of which 13 had been operated with pneumonectomy. Myocardial infarction or cardiac failure caused the death of 32 patients. An additional 70 patients died from other complications.
Interpretation: Postoperative fatal complications after lung resection for cancer are too high.