Influence of prophylactic antibiotic duration on postoperative pneumonia following pulmonary lobectomy for non-small cell lung cancer

Background: Although postoperative pneumonia after radical surgery for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) carries a mortality risk, the duration of postoperative prophylactic antibiotics against pneumonia has not been elucidated. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of the duration of prophylactic antibiotics on postoperative pneumonia following radical surgery for NSCLC in patients who received antibiotics intraoperatively (short period) and in those who received antibiotics both intraoperatively and postoperatively (long period).

Methods: A total of 477 patients who underwent radical lobectomy for NSCLC were analyzed retrospectively. Propensity score analysis generated two matched pairs of 152 patients in both the short and long period groups.

Results: After propensity score matching, the incidence of postoperative pneumonia following pulmonary lobectomy was significantly less in the long period group than in the short period group (3.9% vs. 16.4%, P<0.001). On logistic regression analysis, short period of prophylactic antibiotic administration was the independent risk factor for postoperative pneumonia (odds ratio: 6.82, P<0.001).

Conclusions: Prophylactic antibiotic administration in both the intraoperative and postoperative periods reduced the incidence of pneumonia after pulmonary lobectomy for NSCLC.