Abstract:Objective To explore the influence of forward-extension and backward-extension nursing protocols on the incidence of perioperative complications and disease awareness levels in patients undergoing thoracoscopic lung cancer radical surgery. Methods A total of 105 patients who underwent thoracoscopic lung cancer radical surgery at Beijing Chao-yang Hospital’s Department of Thoracic Surgery from January to December 2021 were selected for the study. The implementation of preoperative and postoperative care protocols at Beijing Chao-yang Hospital, affiliated with Capital Medical University, was set as the cutoff (July 2021). Among these, 51 patients treated before implementation (January to June 2021) were included in the control group and received routine nursing interventions. The observation group comprised 54 patients treated after implementation (July to December 2021), who received forward-extension and backward-extension care protocols on the basis of the control group. The overall effects and occurrence of complications (bronchopleural fistula, hypoxemia, empyema) were compared between the two groups. Disease awareness levels of the patients were assessed using the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (B-IPQ) before and 7 days after the interventions. Results The incidence of complications in the observation group was significantly lower than that in the control group [9.26%(5/54) vs 25.4%(13/51),χ²=4.865, P=0.027]. Seven days after the intervention, the B-IPQ score in the observation group was significantly higher than that in the control group (68.17±8.10 vs 63.06±8.62, t=5.547, P＜0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in the discharge recovery rate between the two groups (P=0.486). Conclusion The forward-extension and backward-extension care protocols can effectively enhance the disease awareness levels of patients undergoing thoracoscopic lung cancer radical surgery, potentially improving their behavioral outcomes and positively impacting the occurrence of complications.