The Effect of Preoperative Pneumonia on Postsurgical Mortality and Morbidity: A NSQIP Analysis

Perioperative Pulmonary Complications in the Elderly: The Forgotten System

With a rapidly aging population and increasing global surgical volumes, managing the elevated risk of perioperative pulmonary complications has become an expanding focus for quality improvement in health care. In this narrative review, we will analyze the evidence-based literature to provide high-quality and actionable management strategies to better detect, stratify risk, optimize, and manage perioperative pulmonary complications in geriatric populations.

Sex-Related Differences in Acuity and Postoperative Complications, Mortality and Failure to Rescue

INTRODUCTION

Yentl syndrome describing sex-related disparities has been extensively studied in medical conditions but not after surgery. This retrospective cohort study assessed the association of sex, frailty, presenting with preoperative acute serious conditions (PASC), and the expanded Operative Stress Score (OSS) with postoperative complications, mortality, and failure-to-rescue.

METHODS

The National Surgical Quality Improvement Program from 2015 to 2019 evaluating 30-d complications, mortality, and failure-to-rescue.

RESULTS

Of 4,860,308 cases (43% were male; mean [standard deviation] age of 56 [17] y), 6.0 and 0.8% were frail and very frail, respectively. Frailty score distribution was higher in men versus women (P < 0.001). Most cases were low-stress OSS2 (44.9%) or moderate-stress OSS3 (44.5%) surgeries. While unadjusted 30-d mortality rates were higher (P < 0.001) in males (1.1%) versus females (0.8%), males had lower odds of mortality (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 0.92, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.90-0.94, P < 0.001) after adjusting for frailty, OSS, case status, PASC, and Clavien-Dindo IV (CDIV) complications. Males have higher odds of PASC (aOR = 1.33, CI = 1.31-1.35, P < 0.001) and CDIV complications (aOR = 1.13, CI = 1.12-1.15, P < 0.001). Male-PASC (aOR = 0.76, CI = 0.72-0.80, P < 0.001) and male-CDIV (aOR = 0.87, CI = 0.83-0.91, P < 0.001) interaction terms demonstrated that the increased odds of mortality associated with PASC or CDIV complications/failure-to-rescue were lower in males versus females.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study provides a comprehensive analysis of sex-related surgical outcomes across a wide range of procedures and health care systems. Females presenting with PASC or experiencing CDIV complications had higher odds of mortality/failure to rescue suggesting sex-related care differences. Yentl syndrome may be present in surgical patients; possibly related to differences in presenting symptoms, patient care preferences, or less aggressive care in female patients and deserves further study.

What is new in 2022 ESC guidelines on cardiovascular assessment and management of patients undergoing non‑cardiac surgery

In 2022, the European Society of Cardiology has published updated guidelines for the cardiovascular evaluation and management of patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery. In this article we briefly summarize the most important recommendations with an emphasis on their use in everyday clinical practice - from the complex assessment of cardiovascular risk and prediction of cardiovascular complications, through the indication of basic paraclinical examinations, the importance of biomarkers, adjustments to pharmacotherapy of heart failure, adjustments to anticoagulant and antiplatelet therapy, to other specifics of individual cardiovascular and other diseases and their importance in the perioperative period. Knowledge and use of these recommendations have the potential to improve the prognosis of patients undergoing various types of surgical procedures.

Complications Following Elective Major Noncardiac Surgery Among Patients With Prior SARS-CoV-2 Infection

IMPORTANCE

There is an urgent need for evidence to inform preoperative risk assessment for the millions of people who have had SARS-CoV-2 infection and are awaiting elective surgery, which is critical to surgical care planning and informed consent.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the association of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection with death, major adverse cardiovascular events, and rehospitalization after elective major noncardiac surgery.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

This population-based cohort study included adults who had received a polymerase chain reaction test for SARS-CoV-2 infection within 6 months prior to elective major noncardiac surgery in Ontario, Canada, between April 2020 and October 2021, with 30 days follow-up.

EXPOSURES

Positive SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction test result.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

The main outcome was the composite of death, major adverse cardiovascular events, and all-cause rehospitalization within 30 days after surgery.

RESULTS

Of 71 144 patients who underwent elective major noncardiac surgery (median age, 66 years [IQR, 57-73 years]; 59.8% female), 960 had prior SARS-CoV-2 infection (1.3%) and 70 184 had negative test results (98.7%). Prior infection was not associated with the composite risk of death, major adverse cardiovascular events, and rehospitalization within 30 days of elective major noncardiac surgery (5.3% absolute event rate [n = 3770]; 960 patients with a positive test result; adjusted relative risk [aRR], 0.91; 95% CI, 0.68-1.21). There was also no association between prior infection with SARS-CoV-2 and postoperative outcomes when the time between infection and surgery was less than 4 weeks (aRR, 1.15; 95% CI, 0.64-2.09) or less than 7 weeks (aRR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.56-1.61) and among those who were previously vaccinated (aRR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.52-1.26).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

In this study, prior infection with SARS-CoV-2 was not associated with death, major adverse cardiovascular events, or rehospitalization following elective major noncardiac surgery, although low event rates and wide 95% CIs do not preclude a potentially meaningful increase in overall risk.

Lung Point-of-Care Ultrasound for Unexpected Hypoxemia during Anesthesia

This is a case report showing acute hypoxemia during anesthesia. Immediate differentiation using lung POCUS (point-of-care ultrasound), in addition to physical examination and portable chest radiography, was made. This is the first case report of sputum impaction due to pneumonia causing hypoxemia that has been detected by lung POCUS during anesthesia.

Association of Preoperative Pneumonia With Postsurgical Morbidity and Mortality in Children

BACKGROUND

Pneumonia is a common lower respiratory tract infection (LRI) and the leading cause of pediatric hospitalization in the United States. Given its frequency, children with pneumonia may require surgery during their hospital course. This poses serious anesthetic and surgical challenges because preoperative pulmonary status is among the most important risk factors for postoperative complications. Although recent adult data indicated that preoperative pneumonia was associated with poor surgical outcomes, comparable data in children are lacking. Therefore, our objective was to investigate the association of preoperative pneumonia with postoperative mortality and morbidity in children.

METHODS

Using the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database, we assembled a retrospective cohort of children (<18 years) who underwent inpatient surgery between 2012 and 2015. Our primary outcome was the time to all-cause 30-day postoperative mortality that we evaluated using Cox proportional hazards regression models. For the secondary outcomes, including 30-day postoperative morbidity events, we used Fine-Gray models to account for competing risk by mortality. We also evaluated the association of preoperative pneumonia with duration of postoperative mechanical ventilation and postoperative hospital length of stay. We used propensity score weighting methods to adjust for potential confounding factors, whose distributions differ across the pneumonia groups.

RESULTS

Among 153,242 children who underwent inpatient surgery, 0.7% (n = 867) had preoperative pneumonia. Compared with those without preoperative pneumonia, children with preoperative pneumonia had a higher risk of mortality throughout the 30-day postoperative period (hazard ratio [HR], 4.10; 95% confidence intervals [CI], 2.42-6.97; P < .001). Although not statistically significant, children with preoperative pneumonia were twice as likely to develop cardiovascular complications compared to children without preoperative pneumonia (HR, 2.10; 95% CI, 1.17-3.75; P = .012). Furthermore, children with preoperative pneumonia had longer duration of postoperative ventilation (incidence rate ratio, 1.47; 95% CI, 1.26-1.71; P < .001). Finally, children with preoperative pneumonia were estimated to be 56% less likely to be discharged within the 30 days following surgery, compared to children without preoperative pneumonia (HR, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.40-0.47; P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

Preoperative pneumonia was strongly associated with increased incidence of postoperative mortality and complications in children. Clinicians should make concerted efforts to screen for preoperative pneumonia and consider whether proceeding with surgery is the most expedient course of action. Our findings may be helpful in preoperative discussions with parents of children with preoperative pneumonia for risk stratification and postoperative resource allocation purposes.

Prognostic Implications of Preoperative Pneumonia for Geriatric Patients Undergoing Hip Fracture Surgery or Arthroplasty

Objective

To report outcomes of geriatric patients undergoing hip fracture surgery or arthroplasty with or without preoperative pneumonia and to evaluate the influence of pneumonia severity on patient prognosis.

Methods

In this single center retrospective study, we included geriatric patients (≥60 years old) who had undergone hip fracture surgery or arthroplasty at Peking University People's Hospital from January 2008 to September 2018. Patients with fractures caused by neoplasms or patients with incomplete clinical data were excluded. Using logistic regression and the CURB‐65 (confusion, uremia, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and age ≥65 years) score as a prediction tool of 1‐year mortality, the effect of preoperative pneumonia on 1‐year mortality was evaluated. Survival of patients with different response to pneumonia‐specific therapy and survival of patients with different pneumonia severity (evaluated with CURB‐65 score) were analyzed using Cox regression.

Results

A total of 1386 patients were included; among them, 109 patients (7.86%) were diagnosed with preoperative pneumonia. Outcomes were evaluated in August 2019 (at least 1 year after surgery for all patients). Compared to patients without preoperative pneumonia, patients with this condition had higher 30‐day mortality (11.9% vs 5%, P = 0.002) and 1‐year mortality rates (33.9% vs 16.3%, P < 0.001) and higher incidence of acute heart failure (7.3% vs 3.4%, P = 0.034) and acute kidney injury (5.5% vs 1.8%, P = 0.009). In multivariate regression, preoperative pneumonia was identified as an independent predictor of 1‐year mortality (odds ratio [OR], 1.45; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.39–3.52; P = 0.021), with other factors including age (≥84 years, OR, 1.46; 95% CI 1.08–1.60; P = 0.027), body mass index (<18.5 kg/m², OR 2.23; 95% CI 1.52–3.17, P < 0.001), anesthesia type (regional, OR 0.87; 95% CI 0.19–0.97, P = 0.042), preoperative pneumonia (OR 1.45; 95% CI 1.39–3.52; P = 0.002), congestive heart failure (OR 2.05, 95% CI 1.57–6.21, P < 0.001), chronic kidney disease (OR 1.73; 95% CI 1.50–2.62; P < 0.001). There was a trend of increased 1‐year mortality as the CURB‐65 score elevated (P for trend = 0.006). Cox regression reveals a higher risk of mortality in patient with preoperative pneumonia, especially in patients with no radiologic improvements after therapy (log‐rank, P = 0.035). Analysis of the impact of pneumonia severity on patient survival using Cox regression reveals that a CURB‐65 score ≥3 indicated a lower rate of survival (CURB‐65 score of 3: hazard ratio [HR] 3.12, 95% CI 1.39–7.03, P = 0.006; score of 4: HR 3.41, 95% CI 1.69–6.92, P = 0.001; score of 5: HR 6.28, 95% CI 2.95–13.35, P < 0.001).

Conclusion

In this single center retrospective study, preoperative pneumonia was identified as an independent risk factor of 1‐year mortality in geriatric patients undergoing hip fracture surgery or arthroplasty. A CURB‐65 score ≥3 indicated a higher risk of mortality.

The effect of emergency surgery on acute abdomen patients with COVID-19 pneumonia: a retrospective observational study

During the COVID-19 outbreak, some patients with COVID-19 pneumonia also suffered from acute abdomen requiring surgical treatment; however, there is no consensus for the treatment of such patients. In this study, we retrospectively reviewed 34 patients with acute abdomen who underwent emergency surgery during the COVID-19 outbreak. Among the 34 patients with acute abdomen, a total of six cases were found with COVID-19 pneumonia (clinical classification for COVID-19 pneumonia: all were the common type). On the premise of similar demographics between both groups, patients with COVID-19 pneumonia had worse indicators of liver and coagulation function. Compared with acute abdomen patients without COVID-19, patients with COVID-19 pneumonia had a longer hospital stay, but there were no significant differences in postsurgical complications (P = 0.58) or clinical outcomes (P = 0.56). In addition, an obvious resolution of lung inflammation after surgery was observed in five COVID-19 patients (83.3%). No new COVID-19 cases occurred during the patients' hospital stays. Therefore, for the common type of COVID-19 pneumonia, emergency surgery could not only improve the outcomes of COVID-19 pneumonia patients with acute abdomen, but also benefit the resolution of pulmonary inflammation.

Hip fracture clearance: How much optimisation is necessary?

Patients with hip fractures are typically elderly individuals with several co-morbidities. Upon admission to the hospital, they often present with acute pain, electrolyte disturbances, anaemia, coagulopathy, and delirium. Long waiting times for surgery are associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The balance between the number of clinical tests and optimisation, which may (i.e., fewer complications and better survival) or may not (i.e., more complications and increased mortality due to unnecessary surgical delay) benefit the patient, has been a preoperative challenge. This summary will review existing clinical guidelines and relevant selected studies to evaluate the extent of preoperative optimisation needed prior to hip fracture surgery.

The Effects of Type 2 Diabetes and Postoperative Pneumonia on the Mortality in Inpatients with Surgery

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the study was to explore the relationship between type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and postoperative pneumonia, and the effects of T2DM and postoperative pneumonia on the mortality in inpatients with surgery.

METHODS

A retrospective study was conducted on 43,174 inpatients with surgery in The First Hospital of Qinhuangdao. These patients were divided into four groups according to T2DM and postoperative pneumonia, Group A subjects without T2DM and postoperative pneumonia, Group B subjects with T2DM only, Group C subjects with postoperative pneumonia only and Group D subjects with T2DM and postoperative pneumonia. In-hospital mortality was collected.

RESULTS

The incidences of postoperative pneumonia were higher in patients with T2DM than patients without T2DM (T2DM 3.2% vs Non-diabetes 1.7%, χ ²=36.219, P<0.001). The mortalities were 0.3% in Group A, 0.3% in Group B, 4.6% in Group C and 8.6% in Group D. In multiple logistic regression analysis, adjusted for sex, age, emergency admissions, coronary heart disease, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, hypoproteinemia, stroke and transient ischemic attack, the mortalities of Group C and Group D were 4.515 (95% CI: 2.779～7.336, P<0.001) times and 8.468 (95% CI: 3.567～20.099, P<0.001) times than the mortality of Group A.

CONCLUSION

T2DM is susceptible to postoperative pneumonia. The mortality increased in patients with postoperative pneumonia. When patients with T2DM and postoperative pneumonia at the same time, the mortality increased further. In T2DM patients with postoperative pneumonia, perioperative management should be improved for patient safety.