Clinical factors associated with Guillain-Barré syndrome following surgery

We sought to identify clinical associations and potential triggers of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) within 6 weeks of surgery.

We retrospectively reviewed consecutive patients diagnosed with GBS within 6 weeks of a surgery between January 1995 and June 2014 at Mayo Clinic. Postsurgical GBS was defined as symptom onset within 6 weeks of surgery. Patients with postsurgical GBS were compared with patients who did not have a surgery prior to GBS onset to determine differences between groups.

A total of 208 patients with GBS, median age 55 years (interquartile range [IQR] 41-68), were included. Nineteen patients (9.1%) developed postsurgical GBS. Median duration from the surgery to onset of first GBS symptom was 15 days (IQR 9-37). The main types of surgeries preceding GBS were gastrointestinal, orthopedic, and cardiac. General anesthesia was used in 18 (95%) and conscious sedation in 1 (5%) patient. Among the 19 patients with postsurgical GBS, 11 (57.9%) had a known diagnosis of malignancy. Autoimmune conditions were present in 5 (26.3%) patients. Postoperative infection was found in 4 (21%) patients. On univariate analysis, the factors that showed an association with postsurgical GBS were age (p = 0.02), malignancy (p ≤ 0.0004), active malignancy (p = 0.03), preexisting autoimmune disorder (p = 0.02), and infection (p = 0.0001). On multivariate analysis, only active malignancy (0.03) remained associated.

Surgery antedated GBS in 9.1% of patients. Postsurgical GBS was more common in patients with an active malignancy. A prospective study is needed to determine whether active malignancy represents an independent risk factor for the development of postsurgical GBS.