Risk factors for postoperative cerebral infarction in Lung Cancer patients: a retrospective study

BACKGROUND: Postoperative cerebral infarction is a rare but serious complication after lung cancer surgery. We aimed to investigate the risk factors and evaluate the efficiency of our devised surgical procedure to prevent cerebral infarction. METHODS: We retrospectively examined 1,189 patients who underwent a single lobectomy for lung cancer at our institution. We identified the risk factors for cerebral infarction and investigated the preventive effects of performing resection of the pulmonary vein as the last step of the surgical procedure during left upper lobectomy. RESULTS: Among the 1,189 patients, we identified 5 male patients (0.4%) with postoperative cerebral infarction. All five underwent left-sided lobectomy including three upper and two lower lobectomies. Left-sided lobectomy, a lower forced expiratory volume in 1 s, and lower body mass index were associated with postoperative cerebral infarction (Ps < 0.05). The 274 patients who underwent left upper lobectomy were stratified by two procedures: lobectomy with resection of the pulmonary vein as the last step of the surgical procedure (n = 120) and the standard procedure (n = 154). The former procedure significantly shortened the length of the pulmonary vein stump when compared with the standard procedure (mean stump length: 15.1 vs. 18.6 mm, P < 0.01), and the shorter pulmonary vein might possibly prevent postoperative cerebral infarction (frequency: 0.8% vs. 1.3%, Odds ratio: 0.19, P = 0.31). CONCLUSIONS: Resecting the pulmonary vein as the last step during the left upper lobectomy enabled the length of the pulmonary stump to be significantly shorter, which may contribute to preventing cerebral infarction. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13019-023-02220-6.