To study the effect of the intraoperative infusion rate of fluids on postoperative pulmonary complications in patients who went under pneumonectomy.

A retrospective study was conducted on 125 patients with anatomic pneumonectomy from January 1 to March 15, 2017 at the First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University. 98 cases were effectively included and were divided into three groups according the intraoperative infusion rate of fluids: low infusion rate group (<7.5 ml·kg^-1·h^-1, n=35), medium infusion rate group (7.5-10.5 ml·kg^-1·h^-1, n=40) high infusion rate group (> 10.5 ml·kg^-1·h^-1, n=23). The incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications, hospital stay and hospital mortality were compared between the three groups.

The incidence of pulmonary complications in each group was 45.7% (16/35) in the low infusion rate group, 20.0% (8/40) in the medium infusion rate group and 43.5% (10/23) in the high infusion rate group. The incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications was significantly lower in the medium infusion rate group than in the low infusion rate group and the high infusion rate group (P<0.05). No death cases were found in the three groups. There was no significant difference in the average length of hospital stay between the three groups (P>0.05).

In the course of anatomic pneumonectomy, the intraoperative infusion rate of fluids controlled at 7.5-10.5 ml·kg-1 ·h^-1 can help to reduce the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications in patients, which should cause the thoracic surgeons and anesthesiologists to pay enough attention.