Complicações pós-operatórias em neurocirurgia eletiva e não eletiva

Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Neurosurgical Patients at a Level III Intensive Care Unit in Pakistan: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Objective Neurosurgical patients account for the majority of cases across all surgical specialties that are admitted to the surgical intensive care unit (ICU) at our institution. The goal of this study was to analyze factors leading to ICU admission, type of neurosurgical intervention, length of ICU/hospital stays, and outcomes in terms of complications and ICU and in-hospital mortality. Methods This retrospective study conducted at the surgical ICU, Aga Khan University Hospital, investigated clinical data of neurosurgical patients admitted between January 2020 and June 2022. Quantitative data were collected regarding patients' characteristics, such as age, gender, comorbidities, type of surgical intervention, mode of surgery, source of admission to ICU, and type of osmotherapy. The primary and secondary outcomes were in terms of ICU and hospital mortality and complications. Results Among 321 patients admitted to the SICU, 197 were included according to inclusion/exclusion criteria. A total of 168 patients (85.3%) required surgical intervention, of whom 101 (60%) underwent elective surgery and 67 (40%) required emergency surgery. Thirteen patients died during the ICU or hospital stay, representing a mortality rate of 6.6%. The average length of stay in the ICU had a median IQR of 4 (4,6) days while the average hospital stay median IQR was 11 (12,18) days. Tracheostomy was performed in 77 patients (39%), and the median IQR day for tracheostomy was 4 (3,5) days. APACHE-II (Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation) score, length of ICU, and length of hospital stay were significantly higher in the deceased patients with a p-value of 0.042, 0.019, and 0.043, respectively. Conclusion In conclusion, this study on neurosurgical patients from the surgical intensive care unit of a low-middle-income country provided valuable insights about factors and their influence on outcomes. The study implies that a high APACHE-II score is linked to poorer outcomes for neurosurgical patients in this particular setting. Undertaking a large multicenter prospective study is vital for tailoring interventions and improving patient care in regions with limited resources where healthcare challenges may be distinct.

Fatores de risco nas neurocirurgias: um estudo de coorte no norte do Brasil

Introdução: Pacientes neurocirúrgicos apresentam elevado risco de complicações locais e sistêmicas que podem aumentar o tempo de internação e o risco de morte. Este estudo tem como objetivo avaliar a incidência de infecções relacionadas à assistência à saúde e os fatores de risco associados em pacientes submetidos às neurocirurgias. Materiais e Métodos: Estudo de coorte prospectiva, realizado em um Hospital de grande porte do estado de Rondônia, no período de 2018 a 2019, incluindo 36 pacientes. Resultados: A incidência de infecções relacionada à assistência à saúde foi 19,4 a cada 100 pacientes (IC95%: 8,19 – 36,02). Ter utilizado sonda nasoenteral aumentou em 6,5 vezes o risco de IRAS (IC 95%: 1,26 – 33,5), a ventilação mecânica aumentou 5,52 vezes o risco (IC95%: 1,23 – 24,6), a presença de traqueostomia aumentou seis vezes (IC95%: 1,34 – 26,8) e realização de exame invasivo aumentou o risco em 6,79 para ter infecção (IC95%: 1,31 – 35,05). Na análise ajustada as variáveis não apresentaram significância estatística. Discussão: A incidência de infecções foi maior do que em regiões com melhores condições socioeconômicas o que pode estar relacionado à menor adesão de boas práticas na assistência. Conclusão: Nas neurocirurgias além das infecções de sítio cirúrgico outras topografias também devem ser consideradas para investigação de infecção. O uso de dispositivos invasivos foi associado à ocorrência de infecções relacionadas à assistência à saúde, portanto as boas práticas no seu uso são essenciais no momento da indicação e uso destes dispositivos.

Impact of COVID-19 on Neurosurgery in Brazil's Health System: The Reality of a Developing Country Affected by the Pandemic

BACKGROUND

The coronavirus disease identified in 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic changed neurosurgery protocols to provide ongoing care for patients while ensuring the safety of health care workers. In Brazil, the rapid spread of the disease led to new challenges in the health system. Neurooncology practice was one of the most affected by the pandemic due to restricted elective procedures and new triage protocols. We aim to characterize the impact of the pandemic on neurosurgery in Brazil.

METHODS

We analyzed 112 different types of neurosurgical procedures, with special detail in 11 neurooncology procedures, listed in the Brazilian Hospital Information System records in the DATASUS database between February and July 2019 and the same period in 2020. Linear regression and paired t-test analyses were performed and considered statistically significant at P < 0.05.

RESULTS

There was an overall decrease of 21.5% (28,858 cases) in all neurosurgical procedures, impacting patients needing elective procedures (-42.46%) more than emergency surgery (-5.93%). Neurooncology procedures decreased by 14.89%. Nonetheless, the mortality rate during hospitalization increased by 21.26%. Linear regression analysis in hospitalizations (Slope = 0.9912 ± 0.07431; CI [95%] = 0.8231-1.159) and total cost (Slope = 1.03 ± 0.03501; CI [95%] = 0.9511-1.109) in the 11 different types of neurooncology procedures showed a P < 0.0001. The mean cost per type of procedure showed an 11.59% increase (P = 0.0172) between 2019 and 2020.

CONCLUSIONS

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased mortality, decreased hospitalizations, and therefore decreased overall costs, despite increased costs per procedure for a variety of neurosurgical procedures. Our study serves as a stark example of the effect of the pandemic on neurosurgical care in settings of limited resources and access to care.

Elective versus nonelective brain tumor resections: a 5-year propensity score matching cost comparison analysis

OBJECTIVE

Elective surgical cases generally have lower costs, higher profit margins, and better outcomes than nonelective cases. Investigating the differences in cost and profit between elective and nonelective cases would help hospitals in planning strategies to withstand financial losses due to potential pandemics. The authors sought to evaluate the exact cost and profit margin differences between elective and nonelective supratentorial tumor resections at a single institution.

METHODS

The authors collected economic analysis data in all patients who underwent supratentorial tumor resection at their institution between January 2014 and December 2018. The patients were grouped into elective and nonelective cases. Propensity score matching was used to adjust for heterogeneity of baseline characteristics between the two groups.

RESULTS

There were 143 elective cases and 232 nonelective cases over the 5 years. Patients in the majority of elective cases had private insurance and in the majority of nonelective cases the patients had Medicare/Medicaid (p < 0.01). The total charges were significantly lower for elective cases ($168,800.12) compared to nonelective cases ($254,839.30, p < 0.01). The profit margins were almost 6 times higher for elective than for nonelective cases ($13,025.28 vs $2,128.01, p = 0.04). After propensity score matching, there was still a significant difference between total charges and total cost.

CONCLUSIONS

Elective supratentorial tumor resections were associated with significantly lower costs with shorter lengths of stay while also being roughly 6 times more profitable than nonelective cases. These findings may help future planning for hospital strategies to survive financial losses during future pandemics that require widespread cancellation of elective cases.

Defining a new neurosurgical complication classification: lessons learned from a monthly Morbidity and Mortality conference

OBJECTIVE

The absence of a commonly accepted standardized classification system for complication reporting confounds the recognition, objective reporting, management, and avoidance of perioperative adverse events. In the past decade, several classification systems have been proposed for use in neurosurgery, but these generally focus on tallying specific complications and grading their effect on patient morbidity. Herein, the authors propose and prospectively validate a new neurosurgical complication classification based on understanding the underlying causes of the adverse events.

METHODS

A new complication classification system was devised based on the authors' previous work on morbidity in endovascular surgery. Adverse events were prospectively compiled for all neurosurgical procedures performed at their tertiary care academic medical center over the course of 1 year into 5 subgroups: 1) indication errors; 2) procedural errors; 3) technical errors; 4) judgment errors; and 5) critical events. The complications were presented at the monthly institutional Morbidity and Mortality conference where, following extensive discussion, they were assigned to one of the 5 subgroups. Additional subgroup analyses by neurosurgical subspecialty were also performed.

RESULTS

A total of 115 neurosurgical complications were observed and analyzed during the study period. Of these, nearly half were critical events, while technical errors accounted for approximately one-third of all complications. Within neurosurgical subspecialties, vascular neurosurgery (36.5%) had the most complications, followed by spine & peripheral nerve (21.7%), neuro-oncology (14.8%), cranial trauma (13.9%), general neurosurgery (12.2%), and functional neurosurgery (0.9%).

CONCLUSIONS

The authors' novel neurosurgical complication classification system was successfully implemented in a prospective manner at their high-volume tertiary medical center. By employing the well-established Morbidity and Mortality conference mechanism, this simple system may be easily applied at other neurosurgical centers and may allow for uniform analyses of perioperative morbidity and the introduction of corrective initiatives.

Clinical evolution and survival of neurocritical patients

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the clinical evolution and survival of neurocritical patients in Hospital Units.

METHOD

Cohort with hospitalized patients in follow-up treatment in public and private hospitals between September 2012 and June 2016. Data were initially analyzed from descriptive and inferential statistics. The Kaplan-Meier indicator was applied as a form of survival analysis. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to analyze the prognostic factors by calculating the hazard ratio.

RESULTS

Participation of 1,289 patients in the study. Patients with a higher score on the Glasgow Coma Scale presented greater survival, and the one-point increase in the scale score corresponded to 42% improvement in their survival. In the analysis of survival, sex and the use of vasoactive drugs showed a significant difference.

CONCLUSION

Female patients with a better score on the Glasgow Coma Scale and using vasoactive drugs had higher survival rates.

The EC90 of remifentanil for blunting cardiovascular responses to head fixation for neurosurgery under total intravenous anesthesia with propofol and remifentanil based on bispectral index monitoring: estimation with the biased coin up-and-down sequential method

Background

Head fixation can induce hemodynamic instability. Remifentanil is commonly used with propofol for total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) during neurosurgery. This study investigated the 90% effective concentration (EC₉₀) of remifentanil for blunting of cardiovascular responses to head fixation during neurosurgery via bispectral index (BIS) monitoring.

Methods

Fifty patients undergoing neurosurgery requiring head fixation were enrolled. This study was performed using the biased coin up-and-down design sequential method (BCD). After tracheal intubation, the effect-site target concentration (Ce) of remifentanil was adjusted to achieve hemodynamic stability and reset to the level preoperatively assigned to each patient, according to the BCD method, approximately 10 min before head fixation. Baseline hemodynamic values were recorded before head fixation. An ineffective response was defined as a case with a > 20% increase in hemodynamic values from baseline. Otherwise, the response was determined to be effective. The EC₉₀ of remifentanil was calculated as a modified isotonic estimator.

Results

Forty-three patients completed this study. The EC₉₀ of remifentanil for blunting cardiovascular responses to head fixation was estimated to be 6.48 ng/mL (95% CI, 5.94–6.83 ng/mL).

Conclusions

Adjustment of the Ce of remifentanil to approximately 6.5 ng/mL before head fixation could prevent noxious cardiovascular responses in 90% of neurosurgical ASA I-II patients aged 20 to 65 years old during propofol target-controlled infusion titrated to maintain BIS between 40 and 50.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT01489137, retrospectively registered 5 December 2011.