ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the influence of perioperative administration of Ambroxol on pulmonary function, postoperative complications, postoperative hospital-stay and cost in elderly lung cancer patients after thoracic lobectomy surgery.Methods One hundred and forty consecutive elderly patients who underwent thoracic lobectomy surgery for lung cancer were randomly assigned into 2 groups: control group (n=70) and Ambroxol group (n=70).In control group, subjects were given the standardized treatment.In the Ambroxol group, patients were given the standardized treatment plus Ambroxol (90 mg/q, 8 h/d) from the day of operation to postoperative 5 days.The preoperative general information, intraoperative conditions, pulmonary function tests, arterial blood gases, incidence of perioperative morbidity, duration of ICU stay, length and costs of postoperative hospital-stay were collected and compared between the 2 groups.Results The 2 groups were well matched for demographics and operative variables.The forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1),the forced vital capacity (FVC), peak expiratory flow rate (PEF) and arterial oxygen pressure were reduced in the 2 groups after operation as compared with before treatment, while the decreases of the above indexes were more significant in the control group than in the Ambroxol group (P＜0.05).Compared with the control group, the postoperative pulmonary complications declined, oxygenation index improved, the postoperative ICU occupancy rate and the length and costs of postoperative hospital-stay were decreased in the ambroxol group (all P＜ 0.05).Conclusions Perioperative administration of Ambroxol could reduce the incidence of pulmonary complications, improve the lung function, decrease the total hospitalization cost, shorten the length of hospital-stay, promote a rapid recovery after surgery, which is worthy of clinical application.