Comparing outcomes after emergency thoracic surgery by cardiothoracic versus other surgeons

The impact of surgeon subspecialty on postoperative outcomes is relatively unstudied in emergency thoracic surgery. The purpose of this study was to compare the outcomes of patients who undergo emergency thoracic operations by cardiothoracic surgeons versus other surgical subspecialties.

This was a retrospective cohort using the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database (2005-2018). A list of Current Procedural Terminology codes was generated by limiting the database to emergency operations performed by thoracic surgeons. Current Procedural Terminology codes occurring with frequency >10 were then used to search the entire database to identify patients who underwent emergency surgery by any surgeon specialty. Patients were grouped by operative surgeon primary subspecialty (cardiothoracic compared with other). Outcomes were compared using bivariable and multivariable regression analysis. Subgroup analysis was performed for lung and chest wall, hiatal hernia, esophagus, and pericardial operation-specific cohorts.

A total of 4,044 patients were included; 2,162 (53.5%) had emergency operations performed by cardiothoracic surgeons and 1,882 (46.5%) by other surgeons. Patients who underwent operations performed by cardiothoracic surgeons were more likely to have 6 of 18 medical comorbidities (all P < .05). Patients who had pericardial operations by cardiothoracic surgeons had lower risk-adjusted rates of mortality (odds ratio, 0.58; 95% confidence interval, 0.34-0.99), renal complications (odds ratio, 0.28; 95% confidence interval, 0.09-0.87), and bleeding (odds ratio, 0.45; 95% confidence interval, 0.24-0.84). There were no risk-adjusted differences in outcomes in the other subgroups.

Patients who underwent emergency pericardial operations by cardiothoracic surgeons had improved postoperative outcomes compared with other surgeon specialties. These differences are important to consider when consulting surgeons for emergency thoracic operations.