Low incidence of complications in asthmatic patients treated with preoperative corticosteroids.

The purpose of this study is to establish the incidence of perioperative complications in asthmatic patients treated with preoperative corticosteroids and to compare these rates to the general surgical population at the same hospital. Using a retrospective cohort design, we studied 172 patients who underwent 249 procedures at our hospital between 1986 and 2002. Preoperative corticosteroids were administered in 240 of the procedures.