Nursing outcome 'airway permeability' in postoperative patients

Objectives: to evaluate the evolution of clinical indicators that characterize airway permeability in patients in the postoperative period of thoracoabdominal surgeries and to analyze their relationship with the occurrence of the diagnosis “ineffective airway clearance”. Methods: descriptive, quantitative, longitudinal research with 60 patients who were followed for five consecutive days. Eleven indicators of the nursing outcome “respiratory status: airway permeability” were used. Results: on the first day of evaluation, the most compromised indicators were: respiratory rate, cough, depth of breath and use of accessory muscles. During follow-up, most of the indicators presented a slight deviation from normal variation and, in the last evaluation, there was a predominance of indicators with some degree of impairment. Conclusions: with the aid of the Nursing Outcomes Classification, it was observed that patients submitted to thoracoabdominal surgeries may present compromised airway permeability even days after surgery.