Pulmonary risk factors in surgery.

The altered pattern of ventilation and the diminution in lung vol-mes after general anesthesia and surgery predispose the postoperative patient to develop serious pulmonary complications. Many additional risk factors are readily identifiable and often reversible. Careful attention to these allows the institution of therapy which can greatly diminish the incidence of serious postoperative pulmonary complications. In patients for whom thoracic surgery is contemplated, the identification and quantification of risk factor helps identify those individuals in whom surgical risk is prohibitively great, or who will not likely tolerate lung resections of major or minor extent.