There are no published reports on predictors of oxygen (O₂) use after lung cancer surgery. The prospect of O₂ use following lung cancer surgery may affect a patient's therapy choice.

The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results -Medicare (SEER-Medicare) dataset was queried to identify patients diagnosed with primary lung cancer (stage I/II) who underwent surgical resection from 1994-2010. Patients with a second resection within 6 months of their first and those with preoperative O₂ use were excluded. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to evaluate the odds ratios (OR) and 95% Confidence Interval (CI) of O₂ use (defined as being billed for home oxygen) after discharge for lung cancer surgery.

Of 21,245 eligible patients from 1994-2010, 3,255(15.3%) were billed for O₂ use in the first month of discharge. 13.7% (447/3255) stopped using within 1 month and 1.47% died. By 6 months, an additional 6.7% died and 1384/2991 (46.27%) were still alive and using O_2. Discharge on O₂ was associated with higher odds of mortality within 6 months (OR=1.35, 95% CI [1.17-1.55]). The significant, independent risk factors for O₂ use at discharge were procedure, gender, race, histology, pulmonary comorbidities, obesity, length of stay, and pulmonary complications, and discharge mode.

Home O₂ use after lung cancer surgery comprises a sizable portion of this population and is correlated with mortality in the first 6 months. Various predictors significantly increased the risk of O₂ use at discharge. However, of those originally discharged on oxygen, 49.3% were alive and off O₂ at 6 months.