A Dashboard for Tracking Mortality After Cardiac Surgery Using a National Administrative Database.

BACKGROUND: Mortality after cardiac surgery is publicly reportable and used as a quality metric by national organizations. However, detailed institutional comparisons are often limited in publicly reported ratings, while publicly reported mortality data are generally limited to 30-day outcomes. Dashboards represent a useful method for aggregating data to identify areas for quality improvement. METHODS: We present the development of a dashboard of cardiac surgery performance using cardiac surgery admissions in a national administrative dataset, allowing institutions to better analyze their clinical outcomes. We identified cardiac surgery admissions in the Medicare Limited Data Sets from April 2016 to March 2017 using diagnosis-related group (DRG) codes for cardiac valve and coronary bypass surgeries. RESULTS: Using these data, we created a dashboard prototype to enable hospitals to compare their individual performance against state and national benchmarks, by all cardiac surgeries, specific cardiac surgery DRGs and by specific surgeons. Mortality rates are provided at 30, 60 and 90 days post-operatively as well as 1 year. Users can filter results by state, hospital and surgeon, and visualize summary data comparing these filtered results to national metrics. Examples of using the dashboard to examine hospital and individual surgeon mortality are provided. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate how this database can be used to compare data between comparator hospitals on local, state and national levels to identify trends in mortality and areas for quality improvement.

Opioid-Related Adverse Events: Incidence and Impact in Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery.

Purpose. Opioid-related adverse drug events (ORADEs) increase patient length of stay (LOS) and health care costs. However, ORADE rates may be underreported. This study attempts to understand the degree to which ORADEs are underreported in Medicare patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Materials and Methods. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrative claims database was used to identify ORADEs in 110 158 Medicare beneficiaries who underwent cardiac valve (n = 50 525) or coronary bypass (n = 59 633) surgery between April 2016 and March 2017. The International Classification of Disease (ICD)-10 codes specifically linked to ORADEs were used to identify an actual ORADE rate, while additional ICD codes, clinically associated with butas not specific to adverse drug events were analyzed as potential ORADEs. Length of stay (LOS) and hospital daily revenue were analyzed among patients with or without a potential ORADE. Results. Among patients undergoing valve or bypass surgery, the documented ORADE rate was 0.7% (743/110 158). However, potential ORADEs may have occurred in up to 32.4% (35 658/110 158) of patients. In patients with a potential ORADE, mean LOS was longer (11.4 vs 8.2 days; P < .0001) and mean Medicare revenue/day was lower ($4016 vs $4412; P < .0001). The mean net difference in revenue/day between patients with and without an ORADE varied between $231 and $1145, depending on the Diagnosis-Related Group analyzed. Conclusions. ORADEs are likely underreported following cardiac surgery. ORADEs can be associated with increased LOS and decreased hospital revenue. Understanding the incidence and economic impact of ORADEs may expedite changes to postoperative pain management. Adopting multimodal pain management strategies that reduce exposure to opioids may improve outcomes by reducing complications, side effects, and health care costs.

The Impact of Epidural Analgesia on Perioperative Morbidity or Mortality after Open Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair.

BACKGROUND: Epidural analgesia (EA) is frequently used as an adjuvant to general anesthesia (GA) for improved postoperative analgesia and reduced rates of cardiac, pulmonary, and renal complications. However, only a few studies have examined EA-GA specifically during open abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair. The effects of EA-GA specifically during open AAA repair regarding postoperative outcomes are unknown. This study was performed to evaluate postoperative outcomes in patients undergoing open AAA repair with EA-GA versus GA alone. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis for patients undergoing surgery between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2016 using the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database. Propensity score matching was used to establish cohorts for analysis. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to determine significant perioperative outcomes for each anesthesia type. A total of 2,171 patients underwent open AAA repair in our date range; we excluded emergent and ruptured AAA. A total of 2,145 patients were included in our analysis, of whom 653 patients received EA-GA and 1,492 patients received GA only. RESULTS: Major postoperative outcomes included mortality, pulmonary cardiac and renal complications, infections, thrombosis, and blood transfusion requirement (including Cell-Saver usage). Additional overall outcomes included hospital length of stay, return to the operating room, and readmission. Patients in EA + GA and GA alone groups were comparable regarding demographics, functional status, and comorbidities. Decreased odds of readmission was observed in EA + GA compared with GA (0.49, 95% CI [0.28-0.86]; P = 0.014); and increased odds of receiving a blood transfusion was observed in those who underwent EA + GA (1.63, 95% CI [1.23-2.14]; P = 0.001). No difference was observed between patients who had an AAA repair with EA + GA versus GA alone with regard to mortality, return to operating room, major pulmonary, cardiac, renal, or infectious complications. CONCLUSIONS: EA + GA was not associated with decreased mortality or decreased rates of major postoperative pulmonary, cardiac, or renal complications. EA + GA was associated with increased transfusion requirements and decreased rates of hospital readmission.

Risk Factors and Outcomes Associated With Sepsis After Coronary Artery Bypass and Open Heart Valve Surgeries.

PURPOSE: Sepsis causes significant morbidity and mortality after cardiac surgery and carries a significant burden on health care costs. There is a general association of increased risk of post-cardiac surgery sepsis in patients with postoperative complications. We sought to investigate significant patient and procedural risk factors and outcomes associated with sepsis after cardiac surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this retrospective study, we analyzed 531 coronary artery bypass grafting and open heart valve surgery cases that developed postoperative sepsis in the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database between 2007 and 2014. Patient-based and surgery-based parameters were analyzed for risk factors and outcomes reported in the 30 days postoperatively. The association between sepsis and patient outcomes was assessed in a propensity-matched cohort using univariable logistic regression. RESULTS: Modifiable and nonmodifiable patient characteristics, including age >80, poor preoperative functional status, chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus, congestive heart failure, chronic kidney disease with serum creatinine ⩾1.5, as well as serum albumin <3.5 and emergent nature of the case were associated with post-cardiac surgery sepsis. Surgical outcomes associated with sepsis included mortality (15.4% vs 4.5%), unplanned intubation (29.8% vs 8.2%), transfusion (53.4% vs 48.4%), acute kidney injury (7.1% vs 1.4%), postoperative dialysis (18.8% vs 3.5%), and return to the operating room (29.8% vs 8.2%). CONCLUSIONS: We identified multiple patient and surgical characteristics as well as postoperative outcomes associated with postoperative sepsis development in the high-risk population of patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Early identification of patients who are at high risk for postoperative sepsis can facilitate early treatment interventions.

A Case of Tracheobronchomalacia Mimicking Acute Pulmonary Embolism.

BACKGROUND Pulmonary embolism is a common acute postoperative complication and is associated with 100,000 deaths per year in the USA. Tracheobronchomalacia is an uncommon condition, which presents with similar symptoms to pulmonary embolism, including hypoxemia, tachycardia, and shortness of breath. We describe a case of a patient who presented with postoperative pulmonary symptoms that were initially thought to be due to pulmonary embolism. However, following imaging investigations these symptoms were found to be due to tracheobronchomalacia. CASE REPORT A 73-year-old woman underwent elective ventral hernia repair and takedown of a Hartmann's pouch. On the ninth postoperative day, she developed symptoms of acute respiratory distress and was admitted to the surgical intensive care unit. Respiratory function tests and blood gas evaluation showed that her alveolar-arterial oxygen gradient (A-a gradient) and modified Wells' score were suggestive of a diagnosis of pulmonary embolism. A contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) scan of the lungs was negative for pulmonary embolism but demonstrated findings suggestive of tracheobronchomalacia. CONCLUSIONS Tracheobronchomalacia should be considered in the differential diagnosis of hypoxia when evaluating a patient in the ICU.