Non-invasive ventilation in postoperative patients: A systematic review

Background: Postoperative pulmonary complications, generally defined as any pulmonary abnormality occurring in the postoperative period, are still a significant issue in clinical practice increasing hospital length of stay, morbidity and mortality. Non-invasive ventilation (NIV), primarily applied in cardiogenic pulmonary edema, decompensated COPD and hypoxemic pulmonary failure, is nowadays also used in perioperative settings. Objective: Investigate the application and results of preventive and therapeutic NIV in postsurgical patients. Design: A systematic review. Data sources: Medical literature databases were searched for articles about "clinical trials," "randomized controlled trials" a…