This project utilized the American College of Surgeons (ACS) National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database to explore preoperative patient variables as predictors of adverse postoperative respiratory occurrences (APRO) in thoracic surgery patients. These APROs include pulmonary embolism, pneumonia, unplanned intubation, and failure to wean. APROs are a significant problem in patients undergoing thoracic surgery. APROs can result in prolonged lengths of stay, poor long-term and short-term outcomes, and increased healthcare costs for patients and healthcare organizations. Conditional logistic regression explored which preoperative patient variables significantly influenced the odds of observing the APROs. Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes were used to match 722 thoracic surgery cases to a control case based on age +/- five years. Each APRO model contained five preoperative patient variables: sex, body mass index (BMI), serum creatinine, serum albumin, and hematocrit. These variables were chosen based on a review of recent literature and data available within the NSQIP database. Preoperative serum albumin was found to be significantly associated with all four APROs, and preoperative hematocrit was found to be significantly associated with three of four APROs (pulmonary embolism, unplanned intubation, and failure to wean). Findings from this project emphasize the need to optimize preoperative serum albumin, serum hematocrit, and serum creatinine at or near normal levels to decrease the odds of observing APROs after thoracic surgery. The authors of this project recommend the creation of checklists or risk assessment tools to preoperatively evaluate patients' risk for developing an APRO after thoracic surgery.