Although fever and atelectasis often coexist during the early postop period, there is no evidence that atelectasis causes fever.

A 2011 systematic analysis of 8 published studies found that all but 1 study failed to find a significant association between postop fever and atelectasis.¹  A 1988 study reported a significant association between postop fever during the first 48 h and atelectasis on day 4 postop, but not each postop day.²  Even in this study, however, fever as a predictor of atelectasis performed poorly with a sensitivity of 26%, specificity of 75% and accuracy of 43%.

In another study involving postop cardiac surgery patients, despite a fall in the incidence of fever from day 0 to day 2, the incidence of atelectasis based on serial chest X-rays actually  increased. ³

Experimental studies in dogs and cats in the 1960s also support the lack of a causative relationship between atelectasis and fever. ^4,5 Although fever was observed within 12 hrs of placement of cotton plugs in the left main bronchus of these animals, almost all animals also developed pneumonia distal to the plug.  Antibiotic treatment was associated with resolution of fever but not atelectasis.

So if it’s not atelectasis, what’s the explanation for early postop fever? The great majority of postop fevers during the first 4 days postop are unlikely to be related to infections. Instead, a more plausible explanation is the inflammatory response to the tissue injury as a result of the surgery itself causing release of cytokines (eg, interleukin-1 and -6 and tumor necrosis factor) associated with fever. ⁶

References

1. Mavros MN, Velmahos GC, Falagas ME. Atelectasis as a cause of postoperative fever. Where is the clinical evidence? CHEST 2011;140:418-24. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21527508
2. Roberts J, Barnes W, Pennock M, et al. Diagnostic accuracy of fever as a measure of postoperative pulmonary complications. Heart Lung 1988;17:166-70. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3350683
3. Engoren M. Lack of association between atelectasis and fever. CHEST 1995;107:81-84. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7813318
4. Lansing AM, Jamieson WG. Mechanisms of fever in pulmonary atelectasis. Arch Surg 1963;87:168-174. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamasurgery/fullarticle/561080
5. Jamieson WG, Lansing AM. Bacteriological studies in pulmonary atelectasis. Arch Surg 1963;87:1062-66. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14063816
6. Narayan M, Medinilla SP. Fever in the postoperative patient. Emerg Med Clin Nam 2013;31:1045-58. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24176478 

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