Anastomotic leak after colorectal surgery: does timing affect failure to rescue?

Anastomotic leak (AL) is a common complication after colectomy with a relatively high failure to rescue rate (FTR), or death after major complications. There is emerging evidence to suggest an early AL may be associated with increased technical difficulty. Whether the timing of an AL is associated with higher FTR has not been established.

Patients who underwent a colectomy between 2012 and 2017 were identified from the American College of Surgeons National Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP database). The primary outcome was FTR after AL. The predictor variable used was day of post-operative leak (POD) categorized into early (POD ≤ 3), intermediate (3 < POD ≤ 20) and late (20 < POD ≤ 30) AL. These POD groups were compared to generate hypotheses to explain any association observed between timing of AL and FTR.

Of 135,539 identified patients, 4613 patients experienced an AL (3.4%) with an overall FTR of 6.4%. FTR differed by timing of AL: early AL was found to have a FTR of 28/195 (12.6%), with a FTR in intermediate AL of 152/2550 (5.6%) and 3/356 (0.8%) in late AL patients (p < 0.0001). When compared by timing of AL, patients differed by sex, pre-operative bowel preparation, de-functioning ostomy rates and re-operation rates (p < 0.05). Controlling for age, ASA, sex, emergency status, operative approach, indication, de-functioning ostomy, re-operation and concurrent procedure, an early AL was found to have a 2.3-fold increased risk of FTR (95% CI 1.38-3.84, p = 0.001), with a late AL having a 0.15-fold decreased risk (95% CI 0.04-0.49, p = 0.002), both compared to an intermediate AL.

Early ALs, occurring within three days of surgery, may carry a significant risk of FTR. Given the findings identified here, this may support the use of early detection algorithms and interventions of AL to minimize the risk of FTR.