Ahmed SS, Ahmed T, Abdalla EG, Humidan AAM, Mohamed Abdalaziz Daffalla A, Elgabani AT, Abdelrahem MA, Bilal T, Ibrahim AA. Preoperative ECG Abnormalities Among Patients Who Underwent Elective Surgical Operations at the Kuwaiti Specialised Hospital, Khartoum, Sudan: A Cross-Sectional Study.
Cureus 2024;
16:e54801. [PMID:
38529459 PMCID:
PMC10961670 DOI:
10.7759/cureus.54801]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/24/2024] [Indexed: 03/27/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND
The presence of preoperative ECG abnormalities has shown wide variation, and its value has been argued; thus, this study aimed to determine preoperative ECG abnormalities among Sudanese patients and their correlates.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
An observational descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at the Kuwaiti Specialised Hospital, Khartoum, Sudan, from October 2020 to March 2021, including all patients over 40 years of age who planned to undergo elective surgery. Demographic, clinical, and ECG findings were obtained during the pre-anaesthesia check-up. The data were analysed using IBM SPSS software version 28 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY).
RESULTS
The study included a total of 304 patients with a mean age of 60±14 years, a male predominance of 210 (69.1%) patients, the presence of hypertension (HTN) in 65 (21.4%), and diabetes mellitus (DM) in 58 (19.1%) patients. The study showed that 235 (77%) patients had at least one ECG abnormality. However, 62 (20.4%) were diagnosed as having normal ECG variations; the most commonly diagnosed abnormality was ischemic heart disease (IHD) (32.5%), followed by sinus tachycardia (39, 12.8%). The QRS complex abnormalities were the most common (100, 32.9%), with M-shaped QRS (RSR pattern) being the most common single ECG abnormal sign (65, 21.4%). The ECG abnormalities showed no significant association with age (p-value = 0.24), gender (p-value = 0.16), DM (p-value = 0.77), HTN (p-value = 0.35), asthma (p-value = 0.35), or the grade of surgery (p-value = 0.52). However, the diagnosis of IHD was associated with the presence of HTN (p-value = 0.001).
CONCLUSION
Incidental preoperative ECG abnormalities are common among Sudanese patients undergoing elective surgery, affecting more than three-quarters of them and being of diagnostic value as they led to the diagnosis of ischemic heart disease in nearly one-third of patients. Hypertensive patients may benefit from routine preoperative ECG testing, as ECG signs of ischemic heart disease are more common among hypertensive patients.
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