Risk factors of prolonged air leaks

Prolonged air leaks are one of the major and most common postoperative complications after thoracic surgery and are associated with significant morbidity. Many risk factors including gender, age, body mass index (BMI), preoperative lung disorders, postoperative predicted lung function, pleural adhesions, preoperative serum albumin levels, air leakage on postoperative day 1 (POD) and surgical technique have been described. The clinical impact of these parameters varies greatly and risk scores have been developed to better detect high-risk patients.