Preoperative Use of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure is related to
Postoperative Respiratory Complications in Patients with Obstructive
Sleep Apnea Undergoing Endoscopic Sinus Surgery
Arata Endo, Yuki Kuwabara, Kentaro Yamakawa
*
, Daisuke Sakamaki, Akihiro Suzuki, Ichiro Kondo, Yasushi Mio, and Shoichi Uezono
Department of Anesthesiology, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
*
Corresponding author: Kentaro Yamakawa, Department of Anesthesiology, The Jikei University School of Medicine, 3 25-8 Nishishimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo,
105-8461, Japan, Tel: +81-3-3433-1111; Fax: +81-3-5401-0454; E-mail: KYamakawa@jikei.ac.jp
Received date: December 10, 2018; Accepted date: December 24, 2018 ; Published date: December 31, 2018
Copyright: © 2018 Endo A, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Backgrounds: Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) undergoing endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) are
considered at risk of postoperative respiratory complications because postoperative nasal packing often delays
resumption of preoperative continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy.
Our hospital implemented a policy in 2011 that all patients with OSA undergoing ESS be admitted to the intensive
care unit (ICU) for at least 1 night for postoperative respiratory monitoring.
We conducted the present study to evaluate the policy by examining the incidence of postoperative respiratory
complications and to identify risk factors for postoperative respiratory complications in these patients.
Methods: All patients with OSA scheduled for ESS from 2011 to 2015 were included in this retrospective chart
review. Postoperative respiratory complication was defined as decrease of the percutaneous arterial oxygen
saturation (SpO
2
) greater than 3% from each baseline or apnea for more than 20 seconds. We examined the
incidence of respiratory complications and conducted multiple logistic regression analysis to determine risk factors
for those of complications.
Results: A total of 152 patients were analyzed. Postoperative respiratory complications were observed in 27
patients (17.8%) and the minimum value of SpO
2
was 84%. None of these patients experienced severe sequelae.
Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that preoperative CPAP use was an independent risk factor for
postoperative respiratory complications (odds ratio=4.1; 95% CI=1.1–14.7).
Conclusion: This retrospective study revealed a relatively high incidence of postoperative respiratory
complications after ESS in patients with OSA. Our hospital policy of continuous respiratory monitoring in the ICU for
at least 1 night postoperatively appears to be valid for these patients.
Keywords: Endoscopic sinus surgery; Obstructive sleep apnea;
Postoperative respiratory complications
Introduction
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common comorbidity in surgical
patients [1]. It can lead to hypertension, cardiovascular disease, heart
failure, and stroke [2,3]. Patients with OSA undergoing surgery are
known to have a greater incidence of perioperative pulmonary
complications such as requiring intubation or developing aspiration
pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or pulmonary
embolism compared to those without [4]. Moreover, OSA can be a
predisposing factor itself for perioperative death or anoxic brain injury
due to respiratory arrest [5].
Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is a major therapy for
patients with moderate to severe OSA. It has been recommended that
patients using preoperative CPAP resume it postoperatively because
upper airway obstruction can be easily caused by remaining
anesthetics and narcotics [6]. However, patients undergoing
endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) tend to delay resumption of CPAP
therapy, owing to postoperative nasal packing.
Afer a patient with OSA who had undergone ESS experienced
postoperative respiratory arrest on the ward in our institution, we
implemented a hospital-wide policy in 2011, stating that all patients
with documented or suspected OSA who undergo ESS are to be
admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) for at least 1 night for
postoperative respiratory monitoring.
In the present study, we sought to validate our hospital policy by
examining the incidence of postoperative respiratory complications in
the ICU for patients with OSA undergoing ESS. In addition, we
assessed possible risk factors for postoperative respiratory
complications in these patients.
Patients and Methods
Te Jikei University Institutional Review Board approval was
obtained, with waiver of informed patient consent because of the
retrospective nature of the study. All consecutive patients with OSA
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ISSN: 2155-6148
Journal of Anesthesia & Clinical
Research
Endo A et al., J Anesth Clin Res 2018, 9:12
DOI: 10.4172/2155-6148.1000871
Research Open Access
J Anesth Clin Res, an open access journal
ISSN:2155-6148
Volume 9 • Issue 12 • 1000871