Preoperative thrombocytopenia and thrombocytosis predict complications after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between preoperative platelet count and 30-day postoperative complications following arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (aRCR).

The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement database was queried for all patients who underwent aRCR between 2015 and 2021. The study population was divided into 5 groups based on preoperative platelet count: normal (200-450k, reference cohort), low-normal (150-200k), mild thrombocytopenia (100-150k), moderate-to-severe thrombocytopenia (<100k), and thrombocytosis (>450k). Thirty-day postoperative complications following aRCR were collected. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to investigate the relationship between preoperative platelet counts and postoperative complications.

24,779 patients were included in this study: 18,697 (75.5%) in the normal group, 4730 (19.1%) in the low-normal group, 1012 (4.1%) in the mild thrombocytopenia group, 171 (0.7%) in the moderate-to-severe thrombocytopenia group, and 169 (0.7%) in the thrombocytosis group. Low-normal platelets were an independent predictor of urinary tract infection (odds ratio [OR] 2.06, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.12-3.77; P = .020). Mild thrombocytopenia was not an independent predictor of any complications. Moderate-to-severe thrombocytopenia was an independent predictor of sepsis (OR 9.39, 95% CI 1.48-59.47; P = .017), pneumonia (OR 6.62, 95% CI 1.32-33.24; P = .022), and nonhome discharge (OR 3.34, 95% CI 1.20-9.25; P = .021). Thrombocytosis was an independent predictor of urinary tract infection (OR 4.91, 95% CI 1.16-20.78; P = .030).

Abnormal preoperative platelet counts, both low and high, were independent risk factors for 30-day postoperative complications following aRCR.