Table 6. Postoperative Complications Detailed.
‡ any arrhythmia other than atrial fibrillation
* statistically significant (p≤0.05)
3x Poverty: three-times federal poverty level; w/wo: with or without
| Complication Variables | Total (n = 437) | Below 3x Poverty (n = 50) | Above 3x Poverty (n = 387) | p-value |
| Overall post-operative complications | 160 (36.6%) | 27 (54.0%) | 133 (34.4%) | 0.007* |
| Pulmonary-related complications | ||||
| Prolonged air leak for >5 days | 92 (21.1%) | 16 (32.0%) | 76 (19.6%) | 0.044* |
| Prolong air leak for >7 days w/wo subcutaneous emphysema | 84 (19.2%) | 15 (30.0%) | 69 (17.8%) | 0.040* |
| Pneumonia | 27 (6.2%) | 5 (10.0%) | 22 (5.7%) | 0.233 |
| Chyle leak | 18 (4.1%) | 3 (6.0%) | 15 (3.9%) | 0.447 |
| Mucous plug requiring intervention | 17 (3.9%) | 1 (2.0%) | 16 (4.1%) | 0.706 |
| Respiratory failure | 8 (1.8%) | 1 (2.0%) | 7 (1.8%) | 1.000 |
| Hypoxia | 5 (1.1%) | 2 (4.0%) | 3 (0.8%) | 0.102 |
| Pneumothorax after chest tube removal requiring intervention | 8 (1.8%) | 0 (0.0%) | 8 (2.1%) | 0.605 |
| Aspiration | 6 (1.4%) | 1 (2.0%) | 5 (1.3%) | 0.520 |
| Pulmonary embolism | 2 (0.5%) | 0 (0.0%) | 2 (0.5%) | 1.000 |
| Cardiovascular complications | ||||
| Atrial fibrillation | 47 (10.8%) | 9 (18.0%) | 38 (9.8%) | 0.079 |
| Other arrhythmia‡ requiring intervention | 6 (1.4%) | 0 (0.0%) | 6 (1.6%) | 1.000 |
| Shock/multi-organ system failure (MOSF) | 5 (1.1%) | 1 (2.0%) | 4 (1.0%) | 0.457 |
| Cardiopulmonary arrest | 3 (0.7%) | 0 (0.0%) | 3 (0.8%) | 1.000 |
| Myocardial infarction (MI) | 2 (0.5%) | 0 (0.0%) | 2 (0.5%) | 1.000 |
| Cerebrovascular accident (CVA) | 1 (0.2%) | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (2.0%) | 0.114 |