Case 1 involved a 70-year-old man with a medical history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), hypertension (HT), and rectal cancer. He had a body mass index (BMI) of 28.3kg/m2 and a score of 2 on Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) and was scheduled for an open abdominal surgery. One day prior to the surgery, he performed an apnea test (via ApneaLink™) between 00:00 and 06:00 am which yielded the following results: AHI: 17/hr, AI: 3/hr, HI: 14/hr; ODI: 3/hr, minimum SpO2 (min. SpO2) 79%, and maximum HR (max. HR): 124/min. A decision was made for postoperative ICU follow-up of the patient.\nFollowing the three-hour long surgery, the intubated patient was admitted to the ICU, where he was extubated four hours later and given O2 mask support (5L/min). The results of an apnea test conducted on the operation day between 00:00 and 06:00 am were as follows: AHI: 21/hr, AI: 4/hr, HI: 17/hr, ODI: 1/hr, min. SpO2: 84%, and max. HR:131/min. It was decided that he should be scheduled for postoperative noninvasive mechanical ventilation (NIMV) support (Table ).
Case 2 involved a 65-year-old man with no known medical history and a diagnosis of rectal cancer. He had a BMI of 20.3kg/m2, an ESS score of 2, and was scheduled for a laparoscopic abdominal surgery. One day prior to the surgery, he performed an apnea test via ApneaLink™ between 00:00 and 06:00 am, which yielded the following results: AHI: 22/hr, AI: 0/hr, HI: 22/hr; ODI: 3/hr, min. SpO2 86%, and max. HR: 108/min. A decision was made for postoperative ICU follow-up of the patient.\nFollowing the two-hour long surgery, the intubated patient was admitted to the ICU, where he was extubated at the second hour and given O2 mask support (5L/min). The results of the apnea test conducted on the operation day between 00:00 and 06:00 am were as follows: AHI: 38/hr, AI: 0/hr, HI: 38/hr, ODI: 1/hr, min. SpO2: 81%, and max. HR: 101/min. It was decided that he should be scheduled for postoperative non-invasive mechanical ventilation (NIMV) support (Table ).