Risk of elective major noncardiac surgery after coronary stent insertion: a population-based study

Guidelines recommend that noncardiac surgery be delayed until 30 to 45 days after bare-metal stent implantation and 1 year after drug-eluting stent implantation.

We used linked registry data and population-based administrative health care databases to conduct a cohort study of 8116 patients (≥40 years of age) who underwent major elective noncardiac surgery in Ontario, Canada between 2003 and 2009, and received coronary stents within 10 years before surgery. Approximately 34% (n=2725) underwent stent insertion within 2 years before surgery, of whom 905 (33%) received drug-eluting stents. For comparison, we assembled a separate cohort of 341 350 surgical patients who had not undergone coronary revascularization. The primary outcome was 30-day major adverse cardiac events (mortality, readmission for acute coronary syndrome, or repeat coronary revascularization). The overall rate of 30-day events in patients with coronary stents was 2.1% (n=170). When the interval between stent insertion and surgery was <45 days, event rates were high for bare-metal (6.7%) and drug-eluting (20.0%) stents. When the interval was 45 to 180 days, the event rate for bare-metal stents was 2.6%, approaching that of intermediate-risk nonrevascularized individuals. Adjusted analyses suggested that event rates were increased if this interval exceeded 180 days. For drug-eluting stents, the event rate was 1.2% once the interval exceeded 180 days, approaching that of intermediate-risk nonrevascularized individuals.

The earliest optimal time for elective surgery is 46 to 180 days after bare-metal stent implantation or >180 days after drug-eluting stent implantation.