Outcomes In Surgical Patients Research Articles

FTP5.14 A comparison of robotic and laparoscopic surgery in the management of benign and malignant general surgical conditions

Abstract Background Robotic surgery is a relatively novel approach to minimally invasive surgery. The ability for greater precision, control and visualisation offers an advanced treatment option. This study compared the clinical outcomes for general surgical patients undergoing robotic and laparoscopic surgery. Methods A retrospective analysis of 172 surgical patients undergoing surgery for malignant and benign conditions was conducted. Analysis of demographics, pre-, intra-, and post-operative care and complication rate was studied. Patients were divided into three groups: Colorectal cancer (CRC), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and general (diverticular disease, rectal prolapse and hernia repairs). Results This study compared 114 robotic surgeries to 58 laparoscopic procedures for general surgery patients. Among the robotic patients, 83 were treated for CRC, 20 for IBD and 11 in the general group; sigmoid cancer (42.2%) and Crohn's disease (75%) were the most common pathologies respectively. In the laparoscopic group, 69% were treated for CRC and 31% for IBD. Robotic surgery had a longer median operation time of 255 minutes compared to 250 minutes for laparoscopic surgery, but shorter average hospital stays (6.2 days vs 11 days) and lower 30-day readmission rates (7.9% vs 17.2%). Fewer robotic patients required blood transfusions (1.8%) than laparoscopic patients (8.6%). One laparoscopic patient required conversion to open surgery, and the mortality rate was 0% across all groups. Conclusion Robotic surgery has been found to have shorter hospital stays, fewer complications, and fewer readmissions compared to laparoscopic surgery for a variety of pathologies. These findings suggest that it may be a superior approach to minimally invasive surgery.

Association between delta anion gap/delta bicarbonate and outcome of surgical patients admitted to intensive care

Association between delta anion gap/delta bicarbonate and outcome of surgical patients admitted to intensive care

New Perianal Sepsis Risk Score Predicts Outcome of Elderly Patients with Perianal Abscesses.

Antibiotic therapy following surgical perianal abscess drainage is debated, but may be necessary for high-risk patients. Frailty has been shown to increase the risk of unfavorable outcomes in elderly surgical patients. This study aims to identify high-risk patients by retrospectively analyzing a single-center cohort and using a pretherapeutic score to predict the need for postoperative antibiotics and extended nursing care following perianal abscess drainage surgery. The perianal sepsis risk score was developed through univariable and multivariable analysis. Internal validation was assessed using the area under receiver-operating characteristic curve. Elderly, especially frail patients exhibited more severe perianal disease, higher frequency of antibiotic therapy, longer hospitalization, poorer clinical outcomes. Multivariable analysis revealed that scores in the 5-item modified frailty index, severity of local infection, and preoperative laboratory markers of infection independently predicted the need for prolonged hospitalization and anti-infective therapy after abscess drainage surgery. These factors were combined into the perianal sepsis risk score, which demonstrated better predictive accuracy for prolonged hospitalization and antibiotic therapy compared with chronological age or frailty status alone. Geriatric assessments are becoming increasingly important in clinical practice. The perianal sepsis risk score identifies high-risk patients before surgery, enabling early initiation of antibiotic therapy and allocation of additional nursing resources.

The prognostic value of clinical frailty and American Society of Anesthesiology score in patients with chronic limb threatening ischaemia.

Background: Frailty is a complex multisystem syndrome associated with increased comorbidity and decreased physiological reserve. There are associations between frailty and adverse outcome in surgical patients. Chronic limb threatening ischemia (CLTI) is increasingly prevalent, with a typically frail patient population. Existing frailty scoring systems focus on functional measures and do not reliably assess comorbidities. The present study aims to describe the prognostic value of multimodal frailty assessment in patients with CLTI. Patients and methods: Patients >50 years old admitted as an emergency with CLTI between May 2020 to June 2021 were included. Frailty was measured using Clinical Frailty Score (CFS), and comorbidities with American Society of Anesthiologists score (ASA). A composite score combining CFS and ASA was derived and the prognostic value compared with each component score. The primary outcome was overall survival. Results: There were 249 eligible patients, 53.4% (n=133) had CFS>4. The mean (95% CI) overall survival for the CFS>4 cohort was 15.9 (13.6-18.3) months vs. 28.5 (26.1-30.9) months for CFS≤4 cohort (p<0.001). Increasing CFS-ASA score was associated with inferior survival on univariate (HR=2.84, 95% CI [1.96-4.11], p<0.001) and multivariate (HR=1.78, 95% CI [1.20-2.64], p<0.01) analyses. ROC-analysis showed comparable prognostic value of CFS and CFS-ASA to predict one-year survival.Conclusions: Frailty is highly prevalent and a poor prognostic indicator in patients with CLTI admitted as an emergency. Our results suggest that incorporating assessment of comorbidities into frailty assessment may offer prognostic value, but comparable to existing clinical frailty assessment. Further work to identify patients with inferior prognosis is required.

Development and Validation of an Abridged Physical Frailty Phenotype for Clinical Use: A Cohort Study Among Kidney Transplant Candidates.

Frailty is associated with poor outcomes in surgical patients including kidney transplant (KT) recipients. Transplant centers that measure frailty have better pre- and postoperative outcomes. However, clinical utility of existing tools is low due to time constraints. To address this major barrier to implementation in the preoperative evaluation of patients, we developed an abridged frailty phenotype. The abridged frailty phenotype was developed by simplifying the 5 physical frailty phenotype (PFP) components in a two-center prospective cohort of 3 220 KT candidates and tested for efficiency (time to completion) in 20 candidates evaluation (January 2009 to March 2020). We examined area under curve (AUC) and Cohen's kappa agreement to compare the abridged assessment with the PFP. We compared waitlist mortality risk (competing risks models) by frailty using the PFP and abridged assessment, respectively. Model discrimination was assessed using Harrell's C-statistic. Of 3 220 candidates, the PFP and abridged assessment identified 23.8% and 27.4% candidates as frail, respectively. The abridged frailty phenotype had substantial agreement (kappa = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.66-0.71) and excellent discrimination (AUC = 0.861). Among 20 patients at evaluation, abridged assessment took 5-7 minutes to complete. The PFP and abridged assessment had similar associations with waitlist mortality (subdistribution hazard ratio [SHR] = 1.62, 95% CI: 1.26-2.08 vs SHR = 1.70, 95% CI: 1.33-2.16) and comparable mortality discrimination (p = .51). The abridged assessment is an efficient and valid way to identify frailty. It predicts waitlist mortality without sacrificing discrimination. Surgical departments should consider utilizing the abridged assessment to evaluate frailty in patients when time is limited.

Associations Between Psychiatric Diagnoses on Length of Stay and Mortality After Rib Fracture: A Retrospective Analysis

IntroductionConcurrent psychiatric diagnoses adversely impact outcomes in surgical patients, but their relationship to patients with rib fracture after trauma is less understood. We hypothesized that psychiatric comorbidity would be associated with increases in hospital length of stay (LOS) and mortality risk after rib fracture. Materials and methodsThe 2017 National Inpatient Sample was queried for adult patients who were admitted with rib fracture after trauma. Mental health disorders were categorized into 34 psychiatric diagnosis groups (PDGs) using clinical classifications software refined for International Classification of Diseases-10. Outcomes of interest were LOS and mortality. Bivariable analysis determined associations between PDGs, patient demographics, hospital characteristics, and outcomes. Logistic regression was performed to identify adjusted effects on mortality, and linear regression was performed to identify effects on LOS. ResultsOf 32,801 patients, median age was 61 y (IQR 46-76), and median LOS was 5 d (IQR 3-9). No PDGs were associated with increased odds of mortality. Concurrent diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum (Coeff. 3.5, 95% CI 2.7-4.4, P < 0.001) or trauma- or stressor-related (Coeff. 1.6, 95% CI 0.9-2.5, P < 0.001) disorders demonstrated the greatest association with prolonged LOS. Increased odds of death and prolonged hospital stay were also associated with male sex, non-White patient race, and surgery occurring at urban and public hospitals. ConclusionsPsychiatric comorbidities are associated with death after rib fracture but are associated with increased LOS. These findings may help promote multidisciplinary patient management in trauma.

The association between intraoperative cardiopulmonary bypass power and complications after cardiac surgery.

Low cardiac power (product of flow and pressure) has been shown to be associated with mortality in patients with cardiogenic shock after acute myocardial infarction, but has not been studied in cardiac surgical patients. This study's hypothesis was that cardiac power during cardiopulmonary bypass for cardiac surgery would have a greater association with adverse events than either flow or MAP (mean arterial pressure) alone. We undertook a retrospective observational study using patient data from February 2015 to March 2022 undergoing cardiac surgery at Fiona Stanley Hospital in Perth Australia. Excluded were patient age less than 18years old, patients undergoing thoracic transplantation, ventricular assist devices, off pump cardiac surgery and aortic surgery. The primary outcome was a composite outcome of 30-days mortality, stroke or new-onset renal insufficiency. Overall, 1984 cardiac surgeries were included in the analysis. Neither duration nor area below thresholds tested for power, MAP or flow was associated with the primary composite outcome. However, we found that an area below MAP thresholds 35-50mmHg was associated with new renal insufficiency (adjusted odds ratio 1.17 [95% CI 1.02 to 1.35] for patients spending 10min at 10mmHg below 50mmHg MAP compared to those who did not). This study suggests that MAP during cardiopulmonary bypass, but not power or flow, was an independent risk factor for adverse renal outcomes for cardiac surgical patients.

#3285 EXTRACORPOREAL BLOOD PURIFICATION DURING OPEN HEART SURGERY WITH PROLONGED CPB: CYTOSORB 300 VS JAFRON HA330

Abstract Background and Aims Cardiac surgery is maintained by various complications. Major contribution associated with cardiopulmonary bypass (CBP). Cardiac surgery with CPB provokes activation of the cascade mechanism of inflammation with releasing of cytokines and a systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS). Activation of the contact system due to exposure of artificial surface of the bypass circuit to blood cells, endotoxemia, ischemia and reperfusion injury and surgical trauma are all potential triggers of inflammation following CPB. This inflammatory reaction may leads to the development of postoperative complications, including vasoplegia, cytokine storm, myocardial dysfunction, respiratory failure, acute kidney injury, coagulopathy bleeding, and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS). A number of different strategies, including new pharmacologic agents, CPB circuits and components, and surgical techniques, have been employed during the last few years in attempts to minimize the impact of SIRS on the outcome of cardiac surgical patients. However, the complex pathophysiology of this problem has not allowed, until now, the use of a single strategy. The aim of our study is assessment of early application of extracorporeal cytokine adsorbers to the inflammation system during open-heart surgery with prolonged cardiopulmonary bypass. Method This prospective randomized single-center controlled trial observed patients, who were assigned a planned open cardiac surgery with a duration of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) more than 120 minutes between January 2021 to January 2023. Patients were randomized into three groups: CytoSorb -300 group, HA 330 group and the control group. A simple 1:1:1 randomization method was applied. Cytokine hemadsorption was conducted intraoperatively. Two types of cytokine cartridges were applied CytoSorb 300 (Cytosorbents Europe GmbH). НА330 (Jafron Biomedical Co., Ltd. China). The inclusion criteria: age ≥18 years, informed consent to participate in the study, CPB more than 120 min. The exclusion criteria: Age less than 18 years; refusal to participate in the study. Results The data of the HA 330 (n = 22) and CytoSorb300 (n = 22) groups were compared with the data of the control group (n = 22). The primary results and details of the work are given in Tables 1-3. Conclusion Intraoperative hemadsorption may be beneficial for patients who underwent open-heart surgery with prolonged CPB. The early hemadsorption has positive impact to postoperative period after cardiac surgery and may reduce requirement of renal replacement therapy.

The effect of driving pressure-guided versus conventional mechanical ventilation strategy on pulmonary complications following on-pump cardiac surgery: A randomized clinical trial

Study objectivePostoperative pulmonary complications occur frequently and are associated with worse postoperative outcomes in cardiac surgical patients. The advantage of driving pressure-guided ventilation strategy in decreasing pulmonary complications remains to be definitively established. We aimed to investigate the effect of intraoperative driving pressure-guided ventilation strategy compared with conventional lung-protective ventilation on pulmonary complications following on-pump cardiac surgery. DesignProspective, two-arm, randomized controlled trial. SettingThe West China university hospital in Sichuan, China. PatientsAdult patients who were scheduled for elective on-pump cardiac surgery were enrolled in the study. InterventionsPatients undergoing on-pump cardiac surgery were randomized to receive driving pressure-guided ventilation strategy based on positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) titration or conventional lung-protective ventilation strategy with fixed 5 cmH2O of PEEP. MeasurementsThe primary outcome of pulmonary complications (including acute respiratory distress syndrome, atelectasis, pneumonia, pleural effusion, and pneumothorax) within the first 7 postoperative days were prospectively identified. Secondary outcomes included pulmonary complication severity, ICU length of stay, and in-hospital and 30-day mortality. Main resultsBetween August 2020 and July 2021, we enrolled 694 eligible patients who were included in the final analysis. Postoperative pulmonary complications occurred in 140 (40.3%) patients in the driving pressure group and 142 (40.9%) in the conventional group (relative risk, 0.99; 95% confidence interval, 0.82–1.18; P = 0.877). Intention-to-treat analysis showed no significant difference between study groups regarding the incidence of primary outcome. The driving pressure group had less atelectasis than the conventional group (11.5% vs 17.0%; relative risk, 0.68; 95% confidence interval, 0.47–0.98; P = 0.039). Secondary outcomes did not differ between groups. ConclusionAmong patients who underwent on-pump cardiac surgery, the use of driving pressure-guided ventilation strategy did not reduce the risk of postoperative pulmonary complications when compared with conventional lung-protective ventilation strategy.

Tranexamic Acid Treatment Reduces Blood Loss After Elective and Semi-Urgent Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty.

Post operative blood loss after reverse shoulder arthroplasty (RSA) is associated with the need for blood transfusion and prolonged hospital stay, among other complications. Tranexamic acid (TXA) reduces perioperative blood loss and is effective when delivered systemically or locally. We compared the effects of TXA on perioperative blood loss between elective and semi-urgent RSA. We retrospectively reviewed patients who underwent either elective or semi-urgent RSA for fracture repair, with and without TXA treatment. Demographics, clinical records, and laboratory results were collected and analyzed to compare peripheral blood hemoglobin concentrations before and after surgery, the need for blood transfusion, and length of hospital stay between the 2 groups. In a cohort of 158 patients, 91 (58%) underwent elective RSA. TXA was administered in 91 (58%) patients from the entire group. TXA administration was associated with a significant decrease in post operative hemoglobin concentration reduction in both the elective and fracture groups (P = .026 and P = .018, respectively), a significant decrease in post operative blood transfusion rates (P = .004 and P = .003, respectively), and a decrease in the need for prolonged hospitalization (P = .038 and P = .009, respectively). The local application of TXA during RSA yielded a significant reduction in perioperative blood loss. We showed a significant positive effect of local TXA administration during RSA that is comparable for both elective and semi-urgent patients. Due to the baseline characteristics of fracture patients, their clinical benefits may be more notable. The positive outcomes for surgical patients with the use of TXA during RSA can possibly cause future consideration in clinical practice.

The BETTY Score to Predict Perioperative Outcomes in Surgical Patients.

The aim of this study is to evaluate a new user-friendly scoring system, namely the BETTY score, that aims to predict 30-day patient outcomes after surgery. In this first description, we rely on a population of prostate cancer patients undergoing robot-assisted radical prostatectomy. The BETTY score includes the patient's American Society of Anesthesiologists score, the body mass index, and intraoperative data, including operative time, estimated blood loss, any major intraoperative complications, hemodynamic, and/or respiratory instability. There is an inverse relationship between the score and severity. Three clusters assessing the risk of postoperative events were defined: low, intermediate, and high risk of postoperative events. A total of 297 patients was included. The median length of hospital stay was 1 day (IQR1-2). Unplanned visits, readmissions, any complications, and serious complications occurred in 17.2%, 11.8%, 28.3%, and 5% of cases, respectively. We found a statistically significant correlation between the BETTY score and all endpoints analyzed (all p ≤ 0.01). A total of 275, 20, and 2 patients were classified as low-, intermediate-, and high-risk according to the BETTY scoring system, respectively. Compared with low-risk patients, patients at intermediate-risk were associated with worse outcomes for all endpoints analyzed (all p ≤ 0.04). Future studies, in various surgical subspecialties, are ongoing to confirm the usefulness of this easy-to-use score in routine.

Prevention of perioperative ischemic stroke after non-cardiac and non-neurosurgical operations in the light of the Scientific Statement and Guidelines for the Secondary Prevention of Ischemic Stroke and Transient Ischemic Attack AHA/ASA 2021 Part 1: Definition, risk factors, pathogenesis, prognosis, principles of pre- and intraoperative prevention

Perioperative ischemic stroke is a potentially fatal complication that greatly increases the risk of poor outcome in surgical patients. Despite the relatively low prevalence among patients undergoing non-cardiosurgical and non-neurosurgical interventions (about 0.1–1.0 %), the total number of annually developing perioperative ischemic strokes in patients of this profile is high due to the large number of operations performed in the world. Since the publication in 2014 of the last fundamental work on the prevention of perioperative stroke, approaches to primary and secondary prevention, diagnosis, conservative and reperfusion treatment of ischemic stroke have been seriously modified. The numerous changes that have taken place have created the prerequisites for revising existing approaches to providing care for perioperative ischemic stroke. In 2021, updated documents of foreign researchers/ associations on the problem of perioperative ischemic stroke in non-cardiac and nonneurosurgical patients were published. This review, which consists of two parts, presents current data that summarizes the most relevant information on this topic. The first part of the review outlines the general provisions on perioperative ischemic stroke (definition, risk factors, pathogenesis, predictive models), strategies for pre- and intraoperative prevention.

P131 Perioperative outcomes in surgical patients with preeclampsia

P131 Perioperative outcomes in surgical patients with preeclampsia

Management of Paget-Schroetter: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objective: Effort induced subclavian vein thrombosis, also known as Paget-Schroetter syndrome (PSS) can be treated non-operatively with direct oral anticoagulation (AC), with percutaneous catheter directed thrombolysis (CDT), first rib resection (FRR), or a combination of treatments. Currently, there is no consensus on the optimal management of PSS. The objective of this study was to summarise the current evidence for management of PSS with explicit attention to the clinical outcomes of different management strategies. The main questions to be addressed were: Is surgical management of PSS consisting of CDT followed by FRR superior to non-operative management with AC? Does the use of CDT improve the outcomes of non-operative treated patients? Does the use of CDT improve the outcomes of surgical treated patients with PSS?

Improving Post-Operative Psychiatric Outcomes in Surgical Epilepsy Patients (P1-1.008)

<h3>Objective:</h3> Accurately forecasting post-operative (PO) psychopathology is beneficial for achieving a better, sustainable QOL in the long-term. <h3>Background:</h3> Psychiatric disorders (PD) represent a substantial comorbidity in epilepsy, affecting 1 in 3 patients (PWE). PD may be overlooked in preliminary evaluations despite their ability to exacerbate epilepsy, impair quality of life (QOL), and worsen preexisting psychiatric diagnoses (PPDx). This study aims to determine the effect of epilepsy surgery (ES) on incidences of psychiatric comorbidity and identify potential predictors of outcome. <h3>Design/Methods:</h3> 18 patients who underwent ES at the NIH in the past 5 years were identified from our database. Reviewed factors include presence of PPDx and location of epileptogenicity. The QOLIE-31, NDDI-E, and GAD7 questionnaires were administered at 3 time points: Baseline (BL), 3 Months (3M) PO, 1 year (1Y) PO. Patients were organized into limbic (LB) vs non-limbic (NL) categories based on involvement of the amygdala and hippocampus—vital for emotional regulation. Education, employment, and driving status were evaluated with demographics. <h3>Results:</h3> NL patients saw improvement in QOLIE score (p=0.0012) over time as did PWE with PPDx (p&lt;0.0001) who were unemployed (p=0.0066). Least Square-Mean (LSM) was lower at BL (PPDx: LSM=39.3) than at follow-up (LSM=62.0 at 3M, 61.3 at 1Y). Irrespective of PPDx, there was no change in NDDI-E score over time (p=0.4633). There was significant reduction in GAD7 scores among non-driving patients (p=0.0461) with a higher LSM at BL (10.0) than at follow-up (4.9 at 3M, 2.2 at 1Y). <h3>Conclusions:</h3> Patients with PPDx and those not driving or employed at BL saw significant improvement in their overall QOL and anxiety PO; however, patients without PPDx did not. NL patients saw the greatest improvement in QOL, suggesting intact emotional regulation compared to those with resected limbic structures. ES may improve mood symptoms and QOL in PWE dealing with a greater burden of PD or lacking independence. <b>Disclosure:</b> Ms. Najimi has received research support from National Institutes of Health’s Intramural Research Program.

Frail Scale as Predictor of 30-Day Postoperative Outcomes in Geriatric Surgical Patients at a Tertiary Hospital in the Philippines from June 2020 to June 2021

Chavez, Jenina Faye C MD; Agno, Marilou N MD, FACS; Banaag, Amihan A MD Author Information

"It's Not Us Versus Them": Building Cross-Disciplinary Relationships in the Perioperative Period.

Palliative care (PC) interventions improve quality outcomes for surgical patients, yet they are underutilized in the perioperative period. Developing cross-disciplinary provider relationships increases PC consults. However, the attributes of collaborative relationships and how they evolve are unclear. To identify perceptions of PC providers and surgeons on how collaborative cross-disciplinary relationships are built and maintained in the perioperative period. This cross-sectional multiphase qualitative study included 23 semistructured interviews with 10 PC teams (20 providers) and 13 surgeons at geographically distributed Veteran Health Administration (VHA) sites. An analytic approach relied on team-based thematic analysis with a dual review (Krippendorfα above 0.8). Respondents defined successful collaborative work relationships between PC and surgeons as having the following features: 1) mutual trust; 2) mutual respect; 3) perceived usefulness; 4) shared clinical objectives; 5) effective communication; and 6) organizational enablers. In addition, the analysis elucidated a framework of six strategies for developing collaborative relationships between PC and surgical teams in the perioperative period: 1) being present, available, and responsive; 2) understanding roles; 3) establishing communication; 4) recognizing an intermediary and connecting role of supporting team members; 5) working as a team; and 6) building on previous experiences. The study informs future interventions to improve the quality of care for seriously ill patients by better-involving PC in the perioperative period. Future work will extend this approach to incorporate the perspectives of patients on their providers' collaboration and how it impacts patient-related outcomes at the intersection of PC and surgery.

A Retrospective Pilot Comparison Trial Investigating Clinical Outcomes in Cardiac Surgical Patients Who Received Sugammadex Reversal During 2018 to 2021

To compare the number of eligible urgent and elective cardiac surgical patients who could be extubated successfully within 6 hours of surgery and who received sugammadex versus those who did not. This retrospective pilot study compared outcomes in cardiac surgical patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass between 2018 to 2021 who received sugammadex versus those who did not. At a tertiary-care hospital in the Northshore of Chicago. A total of 358 elective or urgent cardiac surgical patients who underwent cardiopulmonary bypass (by 1 cardiac surgeon) and were extubated within 24 hours of the end of surgery at Evanston Hospital in Evanston, IL, were included. Data were examined in the following 2 groups of patients: those who were administered sugammadex and those who were not. After performing propensity matching for age, sex, body mass index, kidney or liver disease, the number of preoperative conditions (defined as the sum of the presence of the following medical conditions: diabetes, immunosuppressive disease, on home oxygen, on inhaled bronchodilator, or sleep apnea), number of patients who underwent elective or urgent surgery in each group, surgery time, cardiopulmonary bypass duration, number of intraoperative blood products, use of intraoperative midazolam and propofol, a statistically significant increase in the percentage of patients in the sugammadex group were extubated within 6 hours of the end of surgery versus those who did not receive sugammadex (96.67% v 81.33%, p=0.0428). In addition, there was a statistically significant reduction in time to extubation (hours) (4.72 ± 2.92) v (3.57± 1.96 p=0.0098) in the sugammadex group. All other outcomes did not meet statistical significance. This retrospective study suggested that using sugammadex reversal in cardiac surgical patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass may result in more patients meeting the Society of Thoracic Surgery benchmark extubation criteria within 6 hours of the end of surgery.

Perioperative Medicine: What the Future Can Hold for Anesthesiology.

Perioperative Medicine: What the Future Can Hold for Anesthesiology.

Feasibility of intraoperative continuous glucose monitoring: An observational study in general surgery patients

BackgroundPerioperative hyperglycemia is associated with adverse outcomes in surgical patients, and major societies recommend intraoperative monitoring and treatment targeting glucose <180–200 mg/dL. However, compliance with these recommendations is poor, in part due to fear of unrecognized hypoglycemia. Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs) measure interstitial glucose with a subcutaneous electrode and can display the results on a receiver or smartphone. Historically CGMs have not been utilized for surgical patients. We investigated the use of CGM in the perioperative setting compared to current standard practices. MethodThis study evaluated the use of Abbott Freestyle Libre 2.0 and/or Dexcom G6 CGMs in a prospective cohort of 94 participants with diabetes mellitus undergoing surgery of ≥3 h duration. CGMs were placed preoperatively and compared to point of care (POC) BG checks obtained by capillary samples analyzed with a NOVA glucometer. Frequency of intraoperative blood glucose measurement was at the discretion of the anesthesia care team, with a recommendation of once per hour targeting BG of 140–180 mg/dL. Of those consented, 18 were excluded due to lost sensor data, surgery cancellation, or rescheduling to a satellite campus resulting in 76 enrolled subjects. There were zero occurrences of failure with sensor application. Paired POC BG and contemporaneous CGM readings were compared with Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients, and Bland-Altman plots. ResultsData for use of CGM in perioperative period was analyzed for 50 participants with Freestyle Libre 2.0, 20 participants with Dexcom G6, and 6 participants with both devices worn simultaneously. Lost sensor data occurred in 3 participants (15%) wearing Dexcom G6, 10 participants wearing Freestyle Libre 2.0 (20%) and 2 of the participants wearing both devices simultaneously. The overall agreement of the two CGM's utilized had a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.731 in combined groups with 0.573 in Dexcom arm evaluating 84 matched pairs and 0.771 in Libre arm with 239 matched pairs. Modified Bland-Altman plot of the difference of CGM and POC BG indicated for the overall dataset a bias of −18.27 (SD 32.10). ConclusionsBoth Dexcom G6 and Freestyle Libre 2.0 CGMs were able to be utilized and functioned well if no sensor error occurred at time of initial warmup. CGM provided more glycemic data and further characterized glycemic trends more than individual BG readings. Required time of CGM warm up was a barrier for intraoperative use as well as unexplained sensor failure. CGMs had a fixed warm of time, 1 h for Libre 2.0 and 2 h for Dexcom G6 CGM, before glycemic data obtainable. Sensor application issues did not occur. It is anticipated that this technology could be used to improve glycemic control in the perioperative setting. Additional studies are needed to evaluate use intraoperatively and assess further if any interference from electrocautery or grounding devices may contribute to initial sensor failure. It may be beneficial in future studies to place CGM during preoperative clinic evaluation the week prior to surgery. Use of CGMs in these settings is feasible and warrants further evaluation of this technology on perioperative glycemic management.