Postoperative acute kidney injury in adult non-cardiac surgery:joint consensus report of the Acute Disease Quality Initiative and PeriOperative Quality Initiative

Postoperative acute kidney injury (PO-AKI) is a common complication of major surgery that is strongly associated with short-term surgical complications and long-term adverse outcomes, including increased risk of chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular events and death. Risk factors for PO-AKI include older age and comorbid diseases such as chronic kidney disease and diabetes mellitus. PO-AKI is best defined as AKI occurring within 7 days of an operative intervention using the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) definition of AKI; however, additional prognostic information may be gained from detailed clinical assessment and other diagnostic investigations in the form of a focused kidney health assessment (KHA). Prevention of PO-AKI is largely based on identification of high baseline risk, monitoring and reduction of nephrotoxic insults, whereas treatment involves the application of a bundle of interventions to avoid secondary kidney injury and mitigate the severity of AKI. As PO-AKI is strongly associated with long-term adverse outcomes, some form of follow-up KHA is essential; however, the form and location of this will be dictated by the nature and severity of the AKI. In this Consensus Statement, we provide graded recommendations for AKI after non-cardiac surgery and highlight priorities for future research

In-hospital clinical outcomes after upper gastrointestinal surgery: Data from an international observational study.

AIMS: Previous research suggests that patients undergoing upper gastrointestinal surgery are at high risk of poor postoperative outcomes. The aim of our study was to describe patient outcomes after elective upper gastrointestinal surgery at a global level. METHODS: Prospective analysis of data collected during an international seven-day cohort study of 474 hospitals in 27 countries. Patients undergoing elective upper gastrointestinal surgery were recruited. Outcome measures were in-hospital complications and mortality at 30-days. Results are presented as n(%) and odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: 2139 patients were included, of whom 498 (23.2%) developed one or more postoperative complications, with 30 deaths (1.4%). Patients with complications had longer median hospital stay 11 (6-18) days vs. 5 (2-10) days. Infectious complications were most frequent, affecting 368 (17.2%) patients. 328 (15.3%) patients were admitted to critical care postoperatively, of whom 161 (49.1%) developed a complication with 14 deaths (4.3%). In a multivariable logistic regression model we identified age (OR 1.02 [1.01-1.03]), American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status III (OR 2.12 [1.44-3.16]) and IV (OR 3.23 [1.72-6.09]), surgery for cancer (OR 1.63 [1.27-2.11]), open procedure (OR 1.40 [1.10-1.78]), intermediate surgery (OR 1.75 [1.12-2.81]) and major surgery (OR 2.65 [1.72-4.23]) as independent risk factors for postoperative complications. Patients undergoing major surgery for upper gastrointestinal cancer experienced twice the rate of complications compared to those undergoing other procedures (224/578 patients [38.8%] versus 274/1561 patients [17.6%]). CONCLUSIONS: Complications and death are common after upper gastrointestinal surgery. Patients undergoing major surgery for cancer are at greatest risk

The surgical safety checklist and patient outcomes after surgery: a prospective observational cohort study, systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: The surgical safety checklist is widely used to improve the quality of perioperative care. However, clinicians continue to debate the clinical effectiveness of this tool. Methods: Prospective analysis of data from the International Surgical Outcomes Study (ISOS), an international observational study of elective in-patient surgery, accompanied by a systematic review and meta-analysis of published literature. The exposure was surgical safety checklist use. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality and the secondary outcome was postoperative complications. In the ISOS cohort, a multivariable multi-level generalized linear model was used to test associations. To further contextualise these findings, we included the results from the ISOS cohort in a meta-analysis. Results are reported as odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals. Results: We included 44 814 patients from 497 hospitals in 27 countries in the ISOS analysis. There were 40 245 (89.8%) patients exposed to the checklist, whilst 7508 (16.8%) sustained ≥1 postoperative complications and 207 (0.5%) died before hospital discharge. Checklist exposure was associated with reduced mortality [odds ratio (OR) 0.49 (0.32-0.77); P<0.01], but no difference in complication rates [OR 1.02 (0.88-1.19); P=0.75]. In a systematic review, we screened 3732 records and identified 11 eligible studies of 453 292 patients including the ISOS cohort. Checklist exposure was associated with both reduced postoperative mortality [OR 0.75 (0.62-0.92); P<0.01; I2=87%] and reduced complication rates [OR 0.73 (0.61-0.88); P<0.01; I2=89%). Conclusions: Patients exposed to a surgical safety checklist experience better postoperative outcomes, but this could simply reflect wider quality of care in hospitals where checklist use is routine