30-Day Postoperative Outcomes Following Transcervical Zenker's Diverticulectomy in the Elderly: Analysis of the NSQIP Database.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effect of patient factors, including age, on 30-day postoperative outcomes and complications for patients undergoing transcervical Zenker's diverticulectomy. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cross-sectional analysis. SETTING: American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) Database. METHODS: Patients who underwent open Zenker's diverticulectomy (Current Procedural Terminology code 43130) were queried via the NSQIP (2006-2018). Outcomes analyzed include patient demographics, medical comorbidities, admission type, operative characteristics, length of admission, postoperative complication, readmission, and reoperation. RESULTS: A total of 614 patients were identified. Mean age at time of surgery was 71.1 years, with 13.4% older than 85 years. Outpatient procedures were performed in 29.8%. Postoperative complications occurred in 6.7%, with reoperation and readmission rates of 6.4% and 7.2%, respectively. A mortality rate of 0.3% was observed. Only smoking status (odds ratio, 2.94; P = .008) and history of congestive heart failure (odds ratio, 10.00; P = .014) were shown to have a significant effect on postoperative complications. CONCLUSION: Smoking status confers a high risk for postoperative complication. Age was not an independent risk factor associated with adverse outcomes following open diverticulectomy, suggesting this procedure can be safely performed in patients with advanced age.

Early Adverse Events Following Transcervical Hypopharyngeal Diverticulum Surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To describe rates of short-term morbidity following transcervical surgical treatment of hypopharyngeal diverticulum (HD) and analyze predictors of adverse events. METHODS: The 2005 to 2017 National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database was queried to identify patients diagnosed with HD undergoing open transcervical diverticulectomy. RESULTS: A total of 597 patients with a mean age of 71.4 ± 12.3 years were included. Thirty-day adverse events were experienced by 63 (10.6%) subjects, including 6.5% unplanned reoperations, 4.2% surgical complications, 4.4% medical complications, 2.7% readmissions, and 0.7% deaths. Medical complications notably included pneumonia (2.0%), reintubation (1.2%), sepsis (1.2%), intubation >48 hours (0.5%), urinary tract infection (0.5%), or deep vein thrombosis (0.5%), while surgical complications included organ/space infection (2.0%) and superficial (1.3%) or deep (1.0%) surgical site infection. Gender, race, functional status, diabetes, dyspnea, hypertension, steroid use, and recent weight loss were not associated with adverse events. Length of operation and hospitalization were both higher among those with adverse events (127.4 ± 107.9 vs 95.7 ± 59.8 minutes, P = 0.027, and 7.4 ± 7.4 vs 2.8 ± 3.6 days, P < 0.001). On multivariable logistic regression, high American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class (OR = 2.02, P = 0.017), smoking (OR = 2.10, P = 0.044), and operation time (OR = 1.01; P = 0.005) were independent predictors of adverse events. Obesity was not associated with length of stay, readmission/reoperation, or complications. However, increased age was associated with shorter operations (P = 0.020), higher length of hospitalization (P < 0.001), and higher mortality (P = 0.027) and readmission rates (P = 0.023). CONCLUSION: Understanding clinical factors associated with complications following open surgery for HD such as ASA score, smoking status, length of operation, and age can help optimize surgical outcomes for at-risk patients.