Assessment of non-cardiac surgical patients using the ACS-NSQIP calculator to predict the risk of pneumonia, cardiac complications and venous thromboembolism

Abstract

Objective: to evaluate non-cardiac surgical patients using the ACS-NSQIP to predict the risk of pneumonia, cardiac complications and venous thromboembolism within the first 30 postoperative days in patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery.

Methods: this was a single-center, cross-sectional, correlational study in patients treated by the surgery department of the Hospital del Instituto Venezolano de los Seguros Sociales (IVSS) "Dr. Miguel Pérez Carreño", using the ACS-NSQIP calculator and standardized scales to compare the Lee, ACP and Caprini indices before surgery and during telephone follow up focused on the respective postoperative complications 15 and 30 days after surgery.

Results: of the 98 total patients who were followed, the mean age was 55 ± 14, and 53 (54.1%) were female. Overall, there were 23 complications in 22.4% of the population; pneumonia was the most frequent with 14 subjects (14.2%), followed by seven (7.2%) with cardiovascular complications and two (2.02%) with venous thromboembolism. The estimated risk for pneumonia was AUC 0.695 (p = 0.017), and for cardiac complications was AUC 0.739 (p = 0.036), showing a significant association with the respective event.

Conclusion: the universal ACS-NSQIP risk calculator has acceptable utility for predicting postoperative complications such as pneumonia and cardiovascular events