Role of stair-climbing test in predicting postoperative cardiopulmonary complications in elderly patients with biliary diseases

Abstract

One hundred and twenty-six patients above 80 years old with biliary diseases undergoing operations in Shaoxing People’s Hospital from Jan. 2002 to Jan. 2007 were analyzed retrospectively. All patients performed a preoperative stair-climbing test, and the risks for cardiopulmonary €complications were evaluated with pair-matching and linear correlations analysis between stair-climbing height (h) and left ventricular ejective factor (EF), forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV₁). There was a significant difference in the incidence of cardiopulmonary complications among different stair-climbing heights. Stair-climbing heights were positively related with EF, FVC and FEV₁. This suggests that the stair-climbing test is an effective and simple method for predicting cardiopulmonary complications in elderly patients with biliary diseases.

Keywords

biliary disease / cardiopulmonary complication / stair-climbing test