Low complication rate of corticosteroid-treated asthmatics undergoing surgical procedures.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the incidence of perioperative complications in asthmatic patients who received preoperative treatment with corticosteroids and whether these could be predicted using any study variables such as age, sex, severity of asthma, or surgery type.

METHODS

Using a retrospective cohort design, we studied 71 asthmatic patients who underwent 89 surgical procedures; 86 of 89 patients received preoperative treatment with systemic corticosteroids. The main outcome measures evaluated were incidence of postoperative bronchospasm, infection, clinical evidence of adrenocortical insufficiency, and death.

RESULTS

Three patients (4.5%) developed mild postoperative bronchospasm; five (5.6%) developed postoperative infections, two of which were wound infections (2.2%); there were no patients with evidence of adrenocortical insufficiency; there was one death related to a neurosurgical intraoperative complication. Incidence of infection was not statistically different from two comparison surgical groups. None of the complications was predicted using any of the study variables.

CONCLUSION

Asthmatic patients who are treated preoperatively with corticosteroids can undergo surgical procedures with a low incidence of complications.