Table 2.
Preoperative comorbidities in study populations
| Appendectomy, % of population (n = 9,606) | Intestinal operations, % of population (n = 2,270) | Combined population (n=12,270) | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean age- and sex-specific BMI percentile (SD) | 68.11 (28.01) | 59.6 (30.21) | 66.26 (28.71) | <0.001 |
| Chronic conditions - Any | 20.10% | 45.01% | 25.51% | <0.001 |
| Diabetes | 0.54% | 0.60% | 0.55% | 0.72 |
| History of prematurity | 2.69% | 8.82% | 4.02% | <0.001 |
| Asthma | 6.04% | 4.54% | 5.71% | 0.003 |
| Esophageal/gastric/intestinal disease | 6.80% | 15.54% | 8.70% | <0.001 |
| Biliary/liver/pancreatic disease | 0.19% | 6.23% | 1.50% | <0.001 |
| Cardiac anomaly or cardiac surgery | 1.29% | 5.52% | 2.21% | <0.001 |
| Impaired cognitive status | 1.37% | 4.39% | 2.03% | <0.001 |
| Structural CNS abnormality | 0.39% | 3.08% | 0.97% | <0.001 |
| Chronic immunosuppression | 0.39% | 1.09% | 0.54% | <0.001 |
| Bleeding or hematologic disorder | 1.06% | 3.64% | 1.62% | <0.001 |
| Congenital malformation | 2.29% | 20.01% | 6.14% | <0.001 |
| Malignancy (past or current) | 0.20% | 3.34% | 1.25% | <0.001 |
| Acute conditions - Any | 17.52% | 17.30% | 17.47% | 0.80 |
| Ventilator dependence within 48 hours | 0.03% | 1.88% | 0.43% | <0.001 |
| Acute renal failure | 0.04% | 0.38% | 0.11% | <0.001 |
| Steroid use within 30 days | 0.77% | 1.69% | 0.97% | <0.001 |
| Nutritional support at time of surgery | 0.30% | 4.95% | 1.31% | <0.001 |
| Sepsis or septic shock within 48h | 16.61% | 9.31% | 15.03% | <0.001 |
Footnotes: Chi2 tests were performed to evaluate for differences between the appendectomy subgroup and the intestinal operation subgroup. Comorbidities occurring in <2% of both subgroups are not shown unless clinically relevant although significant differences were present for many (tracheostomy, structural pulmonary/airway abnormalities, stroke, central nervous system tumor, seizure disorder, cerebral palsy, neuromuscular disorder, intraventricular hemorrhage, solid organ transplant, failure to thrive, supplemental oxygen at the time of surgery, dialysis within 2 weeks, coma longer than 24 hours, inotropic support at the time of surgery, cardiopulmonary resuscitation within 7 days, prior operation within 30 days, and chemotherapy or radiation within 30 days).