Evaluation of pulmonary complications after open cardiac surgery in children with congenital anomalies

Abstract

Cardiac surgery due to congenital heart disease is one of the mortality and morbidity causes in children. One of the most important complications of these surgeries is pulmonary disorders. Thus, the aim of this study is to evaluate the incidence of pulmonary complications following open cardiac surgeries in order to better evaluate the present status and the importance of paying attention to this issue for reducing mortality, admission period in PICU, and additional costs for health and hygiene organizations of the country.

Methods & Materials: The present study was a descriptive- cross sectional study on the patients admitted after a definite diagnosis of the cardiac disorder in cardiovascular surgery service. The sampling method was simple sampling including data of the cases of the children suffering congenital heart disorder in age between 1 month up to 18 years old who were admitted in Shahid Madani hospital since March 2015 until March 2016 and underwent cardiac surgery. These cases were selected out of all patients’ cases and were evaluated meticulously. Analysis of the data was done by SPSS version 16.

Results: Among 296 cases, 54.7% were male and 45.3% were female. Mean age was two years and 9 months and mean weight was 11.5 (±6.7) Kg. Pneumonia was seen in 15 patients (5.1%) and pleural effusion was seen in 22.7 percent. Pulmonary complications were less in older ages (correlation coefficient= - 0.123, P = 0.01). Also, in patients staying more days in PICU, significantly more complications were seen (Correlation coefficient = 0.33, P=0.0001). The most prevalent complications were seen in the surgery of cyanotic disorders without shunt application (37.9%) and the least complications were seen in the surgery of valvulopathies (16%).