The association between intraoperative fluid intake and postoperative complications in patients undergoing radical...

To evaluate the association between intraoperative fluid intake and postoperative complications in patients who underwent radical cystectomy (RC) for bladder cancer with an enhanced recovery protocol.

287 patients underwent open RC with enhanced recovery protocol (ERAS) from 2012 to 2016. 107 were excluded; non-urothelial (30), palliative (37), had adjunct procedures or not-consented (40). We prospectively evaluated intraoperative fluid intake (crystalloid, colloid and blood) and correlated with length of stay, 30- and 90-day complications.

180 patients enrolled into the study with median age of 70 years (78% male). 71% underwent orthotopic diversion. Median intraoperative crystalloid and colloid intake were 4000 and 500 cc, respectively. Nineteen percent of patients received blood transfusion. Median length of stay was 4 days. The overall 30- and 90-day complication rates were 59 and 75%, respectively. Multivariate logistic regressions controlling for a subset of clinically relevant variables showed no significant association between intraoperative fluid intake and complications at 30 or 90 days (p = 0.88 and 0.62, respectively). A multivariable linear regression similarly showed no association between total intraoperative fluid intake and length of stay (p = 0.099).

Higher intraoperative fluid intake was not found to independently increase the complication rate following radical cystectomy. Larger studies and prospective trials are needed to determine if fluid optimization may play a role in decreasing morbidity after this major surgery.