Stair-climbing test: beyond the height.

Patient selection has contributed significantly to improve the incidence of postoperative complications after anatomical lung resection. Stair-climbing test is one of the low technology alternatives available, sometimes underused, to improve this selection. In the current issue, Boujibar and colleagues1 present the first systematic review and meta-analysis assessing stair-climbing test as a tool to predict postoperative complications after lung resection and to determine which patients require further high-technology cardiopulmonary evaluation.\n\nBoujibar and colleagues describe the first systematic review and meta-analysis, which addresses the role of the stair-climbing test in predicting the incidence of postoperative complications after major lung resection.1 The authors conclude that achieved height during the stair-climbing test is a useful screening tool to decide whether a patient, due for thoracic surgery, needs further high-technology cardiopulmonary evaluation or can proceed directly to the operation. Despite the great heterogeneity of the six studies included in the …