“Postoperative respiratory complications are common, leading to increased costs and health care resource utilization, and may be associated with increased mortality and adverse discharge disposition,” said Charlotte Lukannek, CandMed, a medical student at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Harvard Medical School, both in Boston. “To minimize the risk of respiratory failure after surgery, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality recommends the assessment of risk factors to better prepare physicians to anticipate potential postoperative adverse events, as well as improve the allocation of health care resources after surgery.”
