Vagus nerve and postinjury inflammatory response.

Area of Science:

• Trauma surgery
• Gastrointestinal surgery
• Critical care medicine

Background:

• Vagotomy is a surgical procedure involving the cutting of the vagus nerve.
• The impact of vagotomy on outcomes following traumatic injury is not well-established.
• Understanding potential complications is crucial for patient management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between vagotomy and patient outcomes after traumatic injury.
• To compare mortality, infectious complications, and resource utilization in injured patients with and without vagotomy.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) database (10 years).
• Inclusion of trauma patients with vagotomy (ICD-9 codes 800-959 and 44.00, 44.01, 44.03).
• Matched control group (3:1) based on age, race, sex, comorbidities, and injury severity.

Main Results:

• Vagotomy group showed significantly higher in-hospital mortality (27.27% vs. 9.57%, P = .003).
• Increased rates of septicemia (26.79% vs. 3.48%) and ulcer disease (71.43% vs. 2.61%) in the vagotomy cohort.
• Prolonged hospital stay (36.4 vs. 9.6 days) and higher total charges ($211,899.90 vs. $59,321.64) were observed.

Conclusions:

• Vagotomy following traumatic injury is linked to increased ulcer disease, septicemia, and mortality.
• These findings suggest a potential disruption in the systemic response to injury post-vagotomy.
• Further research is warranted to elucidate the mechanisms and implications of vagotomy in trauma patients.