Association between fibromyalgia and adverse perioperative outcomes

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Rheumatology
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Fibromyalgia is a non-inflammatory pain syndrome linked to chronic inflammatory markers, potentially increasing morbidity and mortality.
• Previous associations suggest a possible link between fibromyalgia and heightened cardiovascular risks.
• This study investigated the risk of complications in fibromyalgia patients undergoing hospital procedures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test the hypothesis that fibromyalgia patients face a higher risk of cardiovascular complications during hospital procedures.
• To evaluate the association of fibromyalgia with in-hospital thromboembolic events, mortality, and microvascular complications.

Main Methods:

• Utilized 21.78 million US hospital discharge records from 2009-2010.
• Matched 89,589 fibromyalgia patient records with control records based on demographics, procedures, and propensity scores.
• Employed multivariable logistic regression to compare outcomes between matched groups.

Main Results:

• No significant increase in cardiovascular complications (OR 1.04, P=0.51) or thromboembolic events (OR 1.03, P=0.46) was observed.
• A significant reduction in in-hospital mortality was found (OR 0.81, P<0.001).
• No significant difference in microvascular complications was detected (OR 0.96, P=0.18).

Conclusions:

• Fibromyalgia diagnosis did not elevate the risk of in-hospital complications in this large cohort.
• Fibromyalgia appears to be linked to a decrease in in-hospital mortality, though this needs prospective validation.
• Further research with large prospective studies is recommended to confirm the mortality findings.