Persistent alveolar air leak following pulmonary lobectomy: an old problem in a modern era

Persistent alveolar air leak (PAAL) after major lung resection remains a common complication in thoracic surgery. The aim of this study was to identify a subset of patients with high risk of developing PAAL after pulmonary lobectomy. Another objective was to evaluate the influence of PAAL on postoperative complications and length of hospital stay. A retrospective analysis on 895 patients undergoing pulmonary lobectomy from January 2014 to December 2019 was performed. PAAL was defined as air leak lasting more than 5 days after lung surgery. Univariate analyses and logistic regressions were performed to identify the predictors of PAAL. A backward selection algorithm was used to identify the optimal set of predictors. The incidence of PAAL was 8.2% (74/895). Male gender (p=0.017), BMI (p