Objective To explore the risk factors for preoperative colonization of bacteria and postoperative pulmonary complications in elderly lung cancer patients.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of 80 elderly lung cancer patients.All patients underwent preoperative screening for airway colonization bacteria,and the risk factors for preop-erative airway colonization bacteria in elderly lung cancer patients were analyzed based on the presence of positive and negative airway colonization bacteria;After surgery,patients were divided into 2 groups based on the occurrence of pulmonary complica-tions:the occurrence group and the non occurrence group.The risk factors affecting postoperative pulmonary complications in eld-erly lung cancer patients were analyzed.Results The positive rate of airway colonization bacteria in 80 elderly lung cancer pa-tients was 37.50%(30/80),and the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications was 36.25%(29/80);Univariate analy-sis showed that SP-D and smoking history were associated with preoperative airway colonization bacteria in elderly lung cancer pa-tients(P<0.05);Multivariate analysis showed that SP-D<30ng/ml and smoking were high-risk factors affecting preoperative air-way colonization bacteria in elderly patients with lung cancer(P<0.05 and OR>1);Univariate analysis showed that age,SP-D,smoking history,airway colonization bacteria,and surgery time were associated with the occurrence of postoperative pulmonary complications in elderly patients with lung cancer(P<0.05);Multivariate analysis showed that age≥70 years,SP-D<30ng/ml,smoking,positive airway colonization bacteria,and surgery time≥2 hours were high-risk factors for postoperative pulmonary com-plications in elderly patients with lung cancer(P<0.05 and OR>1).Conclusion Elderly lung cancer patients are affected by factors such as SP-D<30ng/ml and smoking,and preoperative positive airway colonization bacteria are higher.However,age≥70 years,SP-D<30ng/ml,smoking,positive airway colonization bacteria,and surgery time≥2 hours are high-risk factors for postop-erative pulmonary complications in elderly lung cancer patients.Based on this,targeted interventions should be taken during the perioperative period to reduce the risk of postoperative pulmonary complications.