Table 2.
Clinical outcomes of patients presenting moderate/severe postoperative hypoxemic (POH) events. Values are shown as mean (SD) or N (% of group) unless otherwise indicated.
| Total | No POH | POH | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (N=43,011) | (N=32,284) | (N=10,727) | ||
| Postoperative In-hospital Course | ||||
| Patients With At Least One Hypoxemic Event (SpO2 ≤85%, any duration): | ||||
| PACU (not considered POH) | 1,585 (3.7%) | 1,018 (3.2%) | 567 (5.3%) | <0.001 |
| POD 1 | 7,179 (16.7%) | 0 (0.0%) | 7,179 (66.9%) | <0.001 |
| POD 2 | 5,340 (12.4%) | 0 (0.0%) | 5,340 (49.8%) | <0.001 |
| POD 3 | 3,455 (8.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 3,455 (32.2%) | <0.001 |
| Any POH event on POD 1, 2, or 3 | 10,727 (24.9%) | 0 (0.0%) | 10,727 (100.0%) | |
| % of Hypoxemic Events (POH%) * | ||||
| POD 1 | 2.4 (6.7) | 0 (0.0) | 9.5 (10.6) | <0.001 |
| POD 2 | 1.9 (6.3) | 0 (0.0) | 7.5 (10.8) | <0.001 |
| POD 3 | 1.2 (5.3) | 0 (0.0) | 4.9 (9.8) | <0.001 |
| Postoperative O2 Therapy Duration, days | 3.7 (5.4) | 3.1 (5.3) | 5.3 (5.5) | <0.001 |
| Postoperative NIV (CPAP, BiPAP, APAP) | 5,905 (13.7%) | 3,783 (11.7%) | 2,122 (19.8%) | <0.001 |
| Postoperative Reintubation | 1,535 (3.6%) | 1,025 (3.2%) | 510 (4.8%) | <0.001 |
| ICU Admission: | ||||
| Planned (direct transfer after surgery) | 4,447 (10.3%) | 2,849 (8.8%) | 1,598 (14.9%) | <0.001 |
| Unplanned (>12h after PACU discharge) | 926 (2.2%) | 500 (1.5%) | 426 (4.0%) | <0.001 |
| Hospital Length of Stay, days | 4.9 (5.8) | 4.5 (5.7) | 6.1 (5.9) | <0.001 |
| Death within 1 year from DOS | 1,426 (3.3%) | 958 (3.0%) | 468 (4.4%) | <0.001 |
*
The frequency of POH events is expressed as percentage of hypoxemia events out of the total SpO2 measurements per day for POD 1–3.
(APAP=Auto-titrating Positive Airway Pressure; BiPAP= Bi-level Positive Airway Pressure; CPAP=Continuous Positive Airway Pressure; DOS=Date of Service; ICU=Intensive Care Unit; NIV=Non-Invasive Ventilation, including CPAP, APAP or BiPAP; PACU=Post-Anesthesia Care Unit; POD=Postoperative Day; POH= Postoperative Hypoxemia, SpO2=Peripheral Saturation of Oxyhemoglobin by pulse oximetry)