Association of neuromuscular reversal drug with postoperative pulmonary complications in bronchoscopy: definitional challenges.

A recent retrospective study examined a composite of postoperative pulmonary complications after neostigmine or sugammadex for reversal of neuromuscular block in patients undergoing interventional pulmonology and bronchoscopic procedures. This study reviewed the electronic medical records of 8557 patients across hospitals within a single health system, finding an increased risk of a composite of postoperative pulmonary complications in those receiving sugammadex (odds ratio 1.44; 95% confidence interval: 1.02-2.05). We discuss the challenge of interpreting conflicting findings in the contemporary perioperative literature arising from heterogeneous definitions of postoperative pulmonary complications.