Incidence, duration and causes of intensive care unit admission following pulmonary resection for malignancy.

Background: We assessed the overall incidence and duration of ICU admission following pulmonary resection and attempted to identify patients requiring prolonged ICU stay.

Methods: Analysis of prospectively collected data on all patients undergoing pulmonary resection for suspected malignant disease that subsequently required ICU admission between March 2002 and October 2003.

Results: Of 170 patients 52 (30%) needed intensive care post-operatively: 21 (12%) for less than 24 h and 31 (18%) for more, for which group the average length of stay was 11.