Application of Surgical Apgar Score in intracranial meningioma surgery

Surgical resection is the main therapeutic option for intracranial meningiomas, but it is not without significant morbidities. The Surgical Apgar Score (SAS), assessed by intraoperative blood pressure, heart rate, and blood loss, was developed for prognostic prediction in general and vascular surgery. We aimed to examine whether the application of SAS in patients undergoing craniotomy for meningioma resection can predict postoperative major complications. We retrospectively enrolled 99 patients that had undergone intracranial meningioma surgery. The patients were subdivided into 2 groups based on whether major complications were present (N = 34) or not (N = 65). We recognized the intergroup differences in SAS and clinical variables. The incidence of 30-day major complications in patients after operation was 34.3%. The lengths of ICU and hospital stay for the morbid cases were prolonged significantly (p = 0.009, p < 0.001, respectively). In the multivariate logistic regression model, SAS was an independent predicting factor of major complications following surgery for intracranial meningiomas (odds ratio, 95% confidence interval = 0.57, 0.38-0.87; p = 0.009), and thus a decrease of one mean SAS increased the rate of major complications by 43%. In conclusions, SAS is an independent predictor of major complications in patients undergoing intracranial meningioma surgery, and provides acceptable risk discrimination. Since this scoring system is relatively simple, objective, and practical, we suggest that SAS be included as an indicator in the guidance for the level of care after craniotomy for meningioma resection.