Background: The authors sought to determine the incidence and risk factors for perioperative cardiac adverse events (CAEs) after noncardiac surgery using detailed preoperative and intraoperative hemodynamic data.
Methods: The authors conducted a prospective observational study at a single university hospital from 2002 to 2006. All American College of Surgeons-National Surgical Quality Improvement Program patients undergoing general, vascular, and urological surgery were included. The CAE outcome definition included cardiac arrest, non-ST elevation myocardial infarction, Q-wave myocardial infarction, and new clinically significant cardiac dysrhythmia within the first 30 postoperative days.
Results: Four years of data demonstrated that of 7,740 noncardiac operations, 83 patients (1.1%) experienced a CAE within 30 days. Nine independent predictors were identified (P < or = 0.05): age > or = 68, body mass index > or = 30, emergent surgery, previous coronary intervention or cardiac surgery, active congestive heart failure, cerebrovascular disease, hypertension, operative duration > or = 3.8 h, and the administration of 1 or more units of packed red blood cells intraoperatively. The c-statistic of this model was 0.81 +/- 0.02. Univariate analysis demonstrated that high-risk patients experiencing a CAE were more likely to experience an episode of mean arterial pressure < 50 mmHg (6% vs. 24%, P = 0.02), experience an episode of 40% decrease in mean arterial pressure (26% vs. 53%, P = 0.01), and an episode of heart rate > 100 (22% vs. 34%, P = 0.05).
Conclusions: In comparison with current risk stratification indices, the inclusion of intraoperative elements improves the ability to predict a perioperative CAE after noncardiac surgery.