Impact of Prolonged Operative Duration on Postoperative Symptomatic Venous Thromboembolic Events After Thoracolumbar Spine Surgery.

Publication/Presentation Date

1-1-2023

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of operative duration on the rate of postoperative symptomatic venous thromboembolic (VTE) events in patients undergoing thoracolumbar spine fusion.

METHODS: We identified all thoracolumbar spine fusion patients between 2012 and 2021. Operative duration was defined as time from skin incision to skin closure. A 1:1 propensity match was conducted incorporating patient and surgical characteristics. Logistic regression was performed to assess predictors of postoperative symptomatic VTE events. A receiver operating characteristic curve was created to determine a cutoff time for increased likelihood of VTE.

RESULTS: We identified 101 patients with VTE and 1108 patients without VTE. Seventy-five patients with VTE were matched to 75 patients without VTE. Operative duration (339 vs. 262 minutes, P = 0.010) and length of stay (5.00 vs. 3.54 days, P = 0.008) were significantly longer in patients with a VTE event. Operative duration was an independent predictor of VTE on multivariate regression (odds ratio: 1.003, 95% confidence interval: 1.001-1.01, P = 0.021). For each additional hour of operative duration, the risk of VTE increased by 18%. A cutoff time of 218 minutes was identified (area under the curve [95% confidence interval] = 0.622 [0.533-0.712]) as an optimal predictor of increased risk for a VTE event.

CONCLUSIONS: Operative duration significantly predicted symptomatic VTE, especially after surgical time cutoff of 218 minutes. Each additional hour of operative duration was found to increase VTE risk by 18%. We also identify the impact of VTE on 90-day readmission rates, suggesting significantly higher costs and opportunity for hospital acquired conditions, in line with prior literature.

Volume

169

First Page

214

Last Page

214

ISSN

1878-8769

Disciplines

Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Health and Medical Administration | Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods

PubMedID

36323348

Department(s)

Administration and Leadership

Document Type

Article

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