Original articleGeneral thoracicCardiopulmonary Testing Before Lung Resection: What Are Thoracic Surgeons Doing?
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Section snippets
Methods
We developed an anonymous, online survey that used a Research Electronic Data Capture (Data Capture, Nashville, TN) application. The survey (Supplemental Material) queried practices of thoracic surgeons about cardiopulmonary assessment before elective lung resection. The survey was emailed to 846 surgeons in the United States who participate in The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) General Thoracic Surgery Database. Survey questions were written to assess the cardiopulmonary testing practices
Demographic Characteristics
There were 203 respondents (24.0%). Most were men, aged 40 to 49 years, practiced at an academic center, and performed primarily GT surgical procedures (Table 1). Compared with nonrespondents, a higher proportion of respondents practiced exclusively GT surgery at an academic center, were women, and were younger.
Preoperative Pulmonary Assessment
When asked about assessment of pulmonary function before elective lung resection (excluding pneumonectomy), nearly all respondents always ordered preoperative spirometry (Table 2). Most
Comment
Our survey of thoracic surgeons’ preoperative evaluation strategies of thoracic surgeons revealed heterogeneity in practice patterns. Most surgeons agreed on the importance of preoperative spirometry and Dlco testing, although fewer agreed on calculating ppo values. The interpretation of PFT results and the subsequent testing varied among surgeons. According to the ACCP guidelines, all patients should undergo spirometry and Dlco testing with calculation of ppoFEV1 and ppoDlco (Grade 1B
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