ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To determine the incidence of postoperative systemic complications and nonophthalmic reasons for prolonged hospitalization after vitreoretinal procedures performed under general anesthesia. METHODS: Patient charts of vitreoretinal or ocular oncologic surgical cases performed under general anesthesia between 1996 and 2001 were reviewed retrospectively. Occurrences of postoperative systemic events within 4 weeks of surgery were documented. RESULTS: We identified 418 cases as having been performed under general anesthesia during the study period. The mean American Society of Anesthesiology physical status classification was 2.1. There were no confirmed cases of myocardial infarction (MI), pulmonary embolism (PE), or deep venous thrombosis (DVT) within the first 24 hours after surgery. There were two instances of hospital admission for evaluation of postoperative chest pain (0.48%; 95% CI, 0.06-1.72), and four instances of hospital admission, or prolongation of stay, because of urinary retention (0.96%; 95% CI, 0.26-2.43). In the 4 weeks following surgery, there was one MI (0.24%; 95% CI, 0.01-1.33), 2 cases of nonfatal PE (0.48%; 95% CI, 0.06-1.72), and 2 cases of DVT (0.48%; 95% CI, 0.06-1.72). All patients that developed PE and DVT had risk factors for the development of thromboembolic disease in addition to surgery under general anesthesia. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, 2.6% of cases had postoperative systemic complications after vitreoretinal or ocular oncologic surgery that was conducted under general anesthesia. Urinary retention was the most common reason for unanticipated hospital stay.
