Perioperative Management and Factors Associated With Transfusion in Cranial Vault Reconstruction

Open Versus Minimally Invasive Approach for Craniosynostosis: Analysis of the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program-Pediatric

OBJECTIVE

This multicenter study aimed to compare demographic, operative, and short-term outcomes data between open and minimally invasive surgical approaches for craniosynostosis repair utilizing the American College of Surgeon's National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Pediatric (NSQIP-P) database and highlight surgical disparities among races and ethnicities.

DESIGN

Retrospective review of large multicenter database.

SETTING

Freestanding general acute care children's hospitals, children's hospitals within a larger hospital, specialty children's hospitals, or general acute care hospitals with a pediatric wing.

PATIENTS AND PARTICIPANTS

A total of 4931 pediatric patients underwent craniosynostosis correction within the NSQIP-P database from 2013 to 2019.

INTERVENTIONS

None.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S)

Demographic information included age at surgery, sex, race, and ethnicity. Operative and outcomes measures included operative time, anesthesia time, days until discharge, postoperative complications, blood transfusions, 30-day readmission, and 30-day unplanned return to operating room.

RESULTS

Patients who underwent minimally invasive surgery had significantly shorter operative and anesthesia times (p < .001; p < .001), fewer days until discharge (p < .001), fewer postoperative complications (p < .05), and less blood transfusions (p < .001). The proportion of White patients was significantly higher in the minimally invasive surgery group (p < .01), whereas Black and Hispanic patients had a significantly higher proportion in the open surgery group (p < .001; p < .001). Additionally, the percentage of patients undergoing minimally invasive surgery increased from 3.8% in 2014 to over 13% in 2019.

CONCLUSIONS

This study adds to a growing consensus that minimally invasive surgery has significantly decreased operative time, anesthesia time, transfusion rates, length of hospital stay, and postoperative complications compared to open surgery. Racial and ethnic surgical disparities showed larger proportions of Black and Hispanic populations undergoing open procedures.

Thromboelastography Changes of Whole Blood Compared to Blood Component Transfusion in Infant Craniosynostosis Surgery

ABSTRACT

Surgical treatment of craniosynostosis with cranial vault reconstruction in infants is associated with significant blood loss. The optimal blood management approach is an area of active investigation. Thromboelastography (TEG) was used to examine changes in coagulation after surgical blood loss that was managed by transfusion with either whole blood or blood components. Transfusion type was determined by availability of whole blood from the blood bank.This retrospective study examined differences in posttransfusion TEG maximum amplitude (MA), a measure of the maximum clot strength, for patients transfused with whole blood or blood components. We included all patients less than 24 months old who underwent cranial vault remodeling, received intraoperative transfusions with whole blood or blood components, and had baseline and posttransfusion TEG measured. Whole blood was requested for all patients and was preferentially used when it was available from the American Red Cross.Of 48 eligible patients, 30 received whole blood and 18 received blood components. All patients received an intraoperative antifibrinolytic agent. The posttransfusion MA in the whole blood group was 61.8 mm (IQR 59.1, 64.1) compared to 57.9 mm (IQR 50.5, 60.9) in the blood components group (P = 0.010). There was a greater posttransfusion decrease in MA for patients transfused with blood components (median decrease of 7.7 mm [IQR -3.4, 6.3]) compared with whole blood (median decrease of 2.1 mm [IQR -9.6, 7.5] P < 0.001).Transfusion with blood components was associated with a greater decrease in MA that was likely related to decreased postoperative fibrinogen in this group. Patients who received whole blood had higher postoperative fibrinogen levels.