Incidence and risk factors for 30-day postdischarge mortality in patients with vascular disease undergoing major...

Our goal was to analyze the incidence and risk factors for 30-day postdischarge mortality in patients with vascular disease undergoing major lower extremity amputation.

We queried the American College of Surgeons National Surgery Quality Improvement Program data set from the years 2005 to 2009 for amputations with vascular disease diagnosis codes. We analyzed in-hospital mortality and postdischarge mortality by year of the study and relative to length of hospital stay. Patients with American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status classification level 5, do-not-resuscitate status, disseminated cancer, and emergent operations were excluded to highlight risk among patients more likely to survive. We compared risk factors for each mortality group using separate multivariate logistic regressions.

Our query resulted in 6,188 patients with mean age of 67 ± 14 years; of these, 39.1% were female. Thirty-day mortality was 7.6%; 4.2% in-hospital mortality and 3.4% postdischarge mortality. After postoperative day 14, the majority of deaths were after discharge and the daily death risk was almost constant until postoperative day 30 at around 2.1 per 1000 survivors. The postdischarge death rates were consistent across the 5 years of the study (χ(2): p = 0.59), despite the fact that median hospital length of stay decreased from 12 to 9 days (Kruskal-Wallis: p < 0.001). Preoperative risk factors for postdischarge death included age, functional status, lower serum albumin, serum creatinine level of >1.2 mg/dL, dialysis, serum bilirubin level of >1.0 mg/dL, black race (protective), systemic inflammatory response syndrome, steroid use for chronic condition, impaired sensorium, alcohol abuse, recent weight loss, and dyspnea.

Patients with vascular disease undergoing major amputation are at high risk for postdischarge mortality. This risk is not associated with recent decrease in hospital stay. Systemic comorbid risk factors were identified, thus highlighting the need for adequate medical management of these patients in the 30 days after the operation. Coordination of postdischarge care to ensure management of systemic illness could potentially improve outcomes.