We conclude that postoperative lung function and arterial saturation is better preserved by a low-oxygen strategy, although it is not clear whether this has clinical relevance for the prevention of postoperative pulmonary complications.

We conclude that, for superficial surgical procedures of up to 120 minutes, maintenance of anesthesia with propofol impairs early postoperative lung function and pulse oximetry values more than with desflurane. Furthermore, increasing obesity decreases pulmonary function at 2 hours after propofol anesthesia but not after desflurane anesthesia.