Scoring tool points to postop ventilator dependence

CHICAGO – A new preoperative risk scoring tool may help identify patients at high risk for requiring mechanical ventilation for more than 48 hours in the 30 days after surgery, a study suggests.

The risk score is based on seven measures: whether patients have had a small bowel procedure, have had an esophageal procedure, are current smokers, have severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, have hypoalbuminemia, are older than age 60 years, or have signs of systemic inflammatory response syndrome or sepsis.

The score was validated via the American College of Surgeons (ACS)/National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database to identify patients who underwent nonemergent general or vascular surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital between 2006 and 2013, Dr. Adam P. Johnson, study coauthor, reported at the ACS/NSQIP National Conference.

The risk score assigned 1 point each for a small bowel procedure, current smoking, severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and hypoalbuminemia (less than 3.5 mg/dL); 2 points each for age over 60 years and signs of systemic inflammatory response syndrome or sepsis; and 3 points for esophageal procedures. Total risk scores ranged from 0 to 7 points for the population.

The median score was 2 for patients who did not need a ventilator after surgery and 3 for those who did, Dr. Johnson said.

Notably, patients with a risk score of more than 3 comprised the 20%-30% of patients who experienced 60%-70% of adverse events. A cutoff value of 3 identified the top 20% of patients at highest risk for ventilator dependence, with a ventilator dependence rate of 5.4% (P less than .01).

The risk factors and scoring system are specific to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where many patients with advanced gastrointestinal malignancies are treated. However, other institutions should be able to use the methodology and framework to identify ventilator risk factors in their own patients, Dr. Johnson suggested.

Future steps include evaluating how the risk tool performs when compared with risk scores derived from national datasets, automating the best performing risk score, and using the score in the preadmission testing of every patient undergoing elective general surgery or vascular operations. Once identified, high-risk patients would then be entered into an aggressive pre-, intra-, and postoperative pulmonary optimization pathway.

“The pathway might be resource intensive for all patients, but we might be able to hone in and use it more effectively for patients at greatest risk,” Dr. Johnson said in a statement.

Although ventilator dependence occurs in only about 1-3% of patients, the consequences are nonetheless significant, increasing mortality and health care costs, said Dr. Scott W. Cowan, senior study author and Jefferson’s NSQIP Surgeon Champion.

[email protected]

CHICAGO – A new preoperative risk scoring tool may help identify patients at high risk for requiring mechanical ventilation for more than 48 hours in the 30 days after surgery, a study suggests.

The risk score is based on seven measures: whether patients have had a small bowel procedure, have had an esophageal procedure, are current smokers, have severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, have hypoalbuminemia, are older than age 60 years, or have signs of systemic inflammatory response syndrome or sepsis.

The score was validated via the American College of Surgeons (ACS)/National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database to identify patients who underwent nonemergent general or vascular surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital between 2006 and 2013, Dr. Adam P. Johnson, study coauthor, reported at the ACS/NSQIP National Conference.

The risk score assigned 1 point each for a small bowel procedure, current smoking, severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and hypoalbuminemia (less than 3.5 mg/dL); 2 points each for age over 60 years and signs of systemic inflammatory response syndrome or sepsis; and 3 points for esophageal procedures. Total risk scores ranged from 0 to 7 points for the population.

The median score was 2 for patients who did not need a ventilator after surgery and 3 for those who did, Dr. Johnson said.

Notably, patients with a risk score of more than 3 comprised the 20%-30% of patients who experienced 60%-70% of adverse events. A cutoff value of 3 identified the top 20% of patients at highest risk for ventilator dependence, with a ventilator dependence rate of 5.4% (P less than .01).

The risk factors and scoring system are specific to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where many patients with advanced gastrointestinal malignancies are treated. However, other institutions should be able to use the methodology and framework to identify ventilator risk factors in their own patients, Dr. Johnson suggested.

Future steps include evaluating how the risk tool performs when compared with risk scores derived from national datasets, automating the best performing risk score, and using the score in the preadmission testing of every patient undergoing elective general surgery or vascular operations. Once identified, high-risk patients would then be entered into an aggressive pre-, intra-, and postoperative pulmonary optimization pathway.

“The pathway might be resource intensive for all patients, but we might be able to hone in and use it more effectively for patients at greatest risk,” Dr. Johnson said in a statement.

Although ventilator dependence occurs in only about 1-3% of patients, the consequences are nonetheless significant, increasing mortality and health care costs, said Dr. Scott W. Cowan, senior study author and Jefferson’s NSQIP Surgeon Champion.

[email protected]

CHICAGO – A new preoperative risk scoring tool may help identify patients at high risk for requiring mechanical ventilation for more than 48 hours in the 30 days after surgery, a study suggests.

The risk score is based on seven measures: whether patients have had a small bowel procedure, have had an esophageal procedure, are current smokers, have severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, have hypoalbuminemia, are older than age 60 years, or have signs of systemic inflammatory response syndrome or sepsis.

The score was validated via the American College of Surgeons (ACS)/National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database to identify patients who underwent nonemergent general or vascular surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital between 2006 and 2013, Dr. Adam P. Johnson, study coauthor, reported at the ACS/NSQIP National Conference.

The risk score assigned 1 point each for a small bowel procedure, current smoking, severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and hypoalbuminemia (less than 3.5 mg/dL); 2 points each for age over 60 years and signs of systemic inflammatory response syndrome or sepsis; and 3 points for esophageal procedures. Total risk scores ranged from 0 to 7 points for the population.

The median score was 2 for patients who did not need a ventilator after surgery and 3 for those who did, Dr. Johnson said.

Notably, patients with a risk score of more than 3 comprised the 20%-30% of patients who experienced 60%-70% of adverse events. A cutoff value of 3 identified the top 20% of patients at highest risk for ventilator dependence, with a ventilator dependence rate of 5.4% (P less than .01).

The risk factors and scoring system are specific to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where many patients with advanced gastrointestinal malignancies are treated. However, other institutions should be able to use the methodology and framework to identify ventilator risk factors in their own patients, Dr. Johnson suggested.

Future steps include evaluating how the risk tool performs when compared with risk scores derived from national datasets, automating the best performing risk score, and using the score in the preadmission testing of every patient undergoing elective general surgery or vascular operations. Once identified, high-risk patients would then be entered into an aggressive pre-, intra-, and postoperative pulmonary optimization pathway.

“The pathway might be resource intensive for all patients, but we might be able to hone in and use it more effectively for patients at greatest risk,” Dr. Johnson said in a statement.

Although ventilator dependence occurs in only about 1-3% of patients, the consequences are nonetheless significant, increasing mortality and health care costs, said Dr. Scott W. Cowan, senior study author and Jefferson’s NSQIP Surgeon Champion.

[email protected]