AVOIDING LUNG COMPLICATIONS FOR PATIENTS POST-SURGERY Improved patient recovery in muscle relaxant reversal drug, according to Specialist anaesthetist-led SNaPP study
With
Professor Kate Leslie AO,
Specialist anaesthetist, Royal Melbourne Hospital &
Honorary Professor, University of Melbourne &
Member, ANZCA Clinical Trials Network
RESEARCH TO PRACTICE SEGMENT
Filmed in Melbourne | October 2026
A “hidden pandemic” of lung complications after surgery has been highlighted by an international study led by Australian researchers that has found how a newer muscle relaxant reversal drug can help improve patient recovery.
The findings of the SNaPP Study (Sugammadex, Neostigmine and Postoperative Pulmonary complications), led by the Department of Critical Care, Melbourne Medical School, University of Melbourne and the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) Clinical Trials Network (CTN) were published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine in June 2026 (https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600(26)00158-X).
Forty-four hospitals and 3500 patients in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong were involved in the four-year study, which received $2.9 million from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF).
The study’s Principal Investigator, specialist anaesthetist Professor Kate Leslie AO, spoke to Australian Health Journal and said the study answers one of the most hotly debated questions in anaesthesia:
“Lung complications can increase the need for oxygen after surgery and cause distress to patients. By reversing muscle relaxant drugs more effectively, sugammadex helps patients breathe more deeply and prevents collapse of lung tissue,” she said.
Professor Leslie said the trial findings highlighted a “hidden global pandemic” of lung complications for many patients after surgery.
However, while collapse of lung tissue was common, more serious lung complications such as pneumonia were infrequent. There were also no differences in the need for intensive care treatment or length of hospital stay between the two groups of patients studied.
The SNaPP Study recruited patients aged 40 years and older having abdominal or thoracic surgery.
“The study results will have immediate benefits for patients and healthcare systems,” she said.
Source: Adapted from Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) media release (June 2026)
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