Association of prior metabolic surgery with outcomes after cardiac operations

Metabolic surgery has been shown to partially reverse metabolic and cardiovascular derangements associated with obesity. Using a national database, we examined the association of prior metabolic surgery with outcomes after elective cardiac operations.

The 2016 to 2019 Nationwide Readmissions Database was queried to identify all adult hospitalizations for elective cardiac operations. Individual comorbidities and history of metabolic surgery were ascertained using International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision diagnosis codes. Entropy balancing was used to adjust for differences in baseline characteristics between patients with and without prior metabolic surgery. Multivariable logistic and linear regressions were subsequently developed to assess the association between metabolic surgery and in-hospital mortality, perioperative complications, length of stay, costs, and 30-day unplanned readmission.

An estimated 454,506 hospitalizations entailing elective cardiac operations met inclusion criteria, of whom 3,615 (0.80%) had a diagnosis code indicating a history of metabolic surgery. Compared to their counterparts, those with prior metabolic surgery were more frequently female, younger, and had a higher burden of comorbidities as measured by the Elixhauser Comorbidity Index. After adjustment, prior metabolic surgery was associated with significantly reduced mortality (adjusted odds ratio 0.50, 95% confidence interval 0.31-0.83). Prior metabolic surgery was also linked to decreased pneumonia, prolonged mechanical ventilation, and respiratory failure. Of note, patients with a history of metabolic surgery encountered a greater likelihood of 30-day, non-elective readmission (adjusted odds ratio 1.26, 95% confidence interval 1.08-1.48).

Patients with a history of metabolic surgery had significantly reduced odds of in-hospital mortality and perioperative complications after cardiac operations but faced increased readmissions.