Surgical patients undergoing anesthesia encounter physiologic changes that can lead to respiratory complications. Certain patient-related factors can increase this risk and potentially result in postoperative unplanned intubation (PUI), a serious complication in the perioperative period that is associated with increases in patient morbidity, mortality, lengths of hospital stay, and healthcare costs. Objective: Identify patient-related factors most associated with PUI. Determining which patient factors may increase the risk for PUI can help providers better identify at-risk patients and optimize their anesthetic plan for surgery accordingly. Design: Retrospective secondary data analysis of the American College of Surgeons (ASC) National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) data. Setting: Kaiser Permanente School of Anesthesia, Pasadena, California. Patients: Patients aged 18-90 years old who underwent surgery between 2017-2019. Measurements: The primary outcome measure was the incidence of reintubation occurring within the first 30 days after surgery. Both inferential and descriptive statistical analyses were conducted to identify associations among various patient characteristics with the outcome measure PUI. Results: Patient factors of COPD, CHF, insulin-dependent DM, ASA scores 3-4, dependent functional status, dyspnea, smoking histories, HTN requiring pharmacotherapy, and inflammatory processes were all PUI risk factors.