AT THE ACS CLINICAL CONGRESS
SAN FRANCISCO (FRONTLINE MEDICAL NEWS) – Too much or too little IV fluid on the day of surgery was associated with a 10%-12% increased risk for postoperative ileus in a retrospective study of 84,722 patients undergoing colon surgery.
Patients who received more than 5 liters of IV fluid on the day of surgery had a 10% increased risk of postoperative ileus and patients who received no more than 1.7 L on the surgery had a 12% increased risk of postoperative ileus, compared with patients who received 1.71-5 L of fluid, Dr. Julie K. Marosky Thacker and her associates reported at the annual clinical congress of the American College of Surgeons.
“This is one of the first studies to show that in a U.S.-based review, we have a significant number of patients getting over 5 L of fluid on the day of colon operation,” and that both high and low fluids increase the risk of postoperative ileus, Dr. Thacker said. “Observed fluid use is not compliant with the recommendations that are widespread and described in the principles of Enhance Recovery After Surgery .”
Perhaps optimizing fluids could decrease postoperative ileus and improve outcomes, she added.
The observational study of data on adults undergoing colon surgery at 524 U.S. hospitals found a wide variation in the amount of IV fluids used on the day of surgery, ranging from none to more than 8 L, with a median of 3.1 L, Dr. Thacker of Duke University, Durham, N.C., said. The researchers defined excessive fluids as the highest quartile of fluid levels and low fluids as the lowest quartile.
Overall, 18% of patients developed postoperative ileus. The higher risk for ileus with low or high IV fluids on the day of surgery was seen in open and laparoscopic procedures.
Patients with ileus had significantly longer hospitalizations, higher costs, and increased likelihood of readmission, compared with patients without ileus. The hospital length of stay averaged 10 days with ileus and 6 days without ileus. Total costs averaged $20,734 per patient with ileus and $13,865 without ileus. Among patients with ileus, readmission rates were 14% within 30 days, 17% within 60 days, and 20% within 90 days. Among patients without ileus, readmission rates were 9%, 12%, and 14% at those time points, respectively.
Data for the study came from the Premier Data research database of a nationally representative sample of adult patients having colon surgery from January 1, 2008 through June 30, 2012. Procedures included laparoscopic partial excision of the large intestine, isolation of a segment of the large intestine, open and other partial excisions of the large intestine, total intra-abdominal colectomy, anastomosis of the small intestine to the rectal stump, and other small-to-large intestinal anastomoses.
Patients had a mean age of 62 years, 46% were male, and 73% were white. Forty-six percent of patients were covered by Medicare and 36% by managed care plans. Sixty-one percent of hospitals were nonteaching hospitals, and 89% were in an urban location.
The analysis adjusted for the influence of multiple other factors that may be associated with the risk of ileus, she said.
Deltex Medical, which markets fluid monitoring systems, funded the study. Dr. Thacker has been a consultant for Deltex and for Premier Data Inc., which acquired the data.
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