Table 3. Postoperative Outcomes.
| Outcome | Admissions, No (%) | P valuea | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appropriate triage (n = 11 042) | Undertriage (n = 1306) | Control (n = 2452) | Appropriate triage vs undertriage | Undertriage vs control | |
| Resource use | |||||
| Transfer from ward to ICU | 298 (2.7) | 207 (15.8) | NA | <.001 | NA |
| Time from surgical procedures end to ICU transfer, median (IQR), hr | 35.0 (21.2-70.0) | 71.0 (31.5-144.0) | NA | <.001 | NA |
| ICU admission ≥48 h | 212 (1.9) | 165 (12.6) | 1407 (57.4) | <.001 | <.001 |
| Mechanical ventilation ≥48 h | 19 (0.2) | 32 (2.5) | 53 (2.2) | <.001 | .60 |
| Postoperative red blood cell transfusion | 396 (3.6) | 275 (21.1) | 337 (13.7) | <.001 | <.001 |
| Red blood cell transfusion during admission | 475 (4.3) | 325 (24.9) | 380 (15.5) | <.001 | <.001 |
| Hospital length of stay, median (IQR), d | 3.0 (1.5-5.1) | 8.1 (5.1-13.6) | 6.0 (3.3-9.3) | <.001 | <.001 |
| Postoperative procedure | |||||
| Arterial catheter | 370 (3.4) | 173 (13.2) | 261 (10.6) | <.001 | .02 |
| Central venous catheter | 49 (0.4) | 37 (2.8) | 51 (2.1) | <.001 | .20 |
| Bronchoscopy | 9 (0.1) | 8 (0.6) | 23 (0.9) | <.001 | .38 |
| Chest tube | 8 (0.1) | 3 (0.2) | 8 (0.3) | .13 | .76 |
| Electric cardioversion | 4 (<0.1) | 3 (0.2) | 4 (0.2) | .04 | .71 |
| Second surgical procedure during admission | 536 (4.9) | 360 (27.6) | 353 (14.4) | <.001 | <.001 |
| Emergent second surgical procedure | 107 (1.0) | 92 (7.0) | 91 (3.7) | <.001 | <.001 |
| Time between surgical procedures, median (IQR), d | 2.6 (1.8-4.7) | 3.8 (2.0-6.0) | 3.3 (1.6-6.3) | <.001 | .23 |
| Complication | |||||
| Hospital mortality | 5 (0.1) | 19 (1.5) | 17 (0.7) | <.001 | .04 |
| Discharge to hospice | 13 (0.1) | 23 (1.8) | 14 (0.6) | <.001 | <.001 |
| Cardiac arrest | 7 (0.1) | 7 (0.5) | 10 (0.4) | <.001 | .64 |
| Unplanned intubation | 48 (0.4) | 45 (3.4) | 49 (2.0) | <.001 | .01 |
| Acute kidney injury | 965 (8.7) | 341 (26.1) | 477 (19.5) | <.001 | <.001 |
| Rapid reversal | 459 (4.2) | 153 (11.7) | 248 (10.1) | <.001 | .16 |
| Persistent | |||||
| With kidney recovery | 100 (0.9) | 97 (7.4) | 91 (3.7) | <.001 | <.001 |
| Without kidney recovery | 406 (3.7) | 91 (7.0) | 138 (5.6) | <.001 | .14 |
| Charges and costs, median (IQR), thousands of $ | |||||
| Professional service charges | 13.7 (10.0-18.5) | 18.5 (13.1-30.2) | 24.5 (16.9-37.9) | <.001 | <.001 |
| Charges for hospital admission | 65.7 (47.6-88.3) | 101.3 (70.3-155.0) | 120.2 (84.5-163.7) | <.001 | <.001 |
| Costs for hospital admission | 15.9 (11.3-22.5) | 26.9 (18.4-42.3) | 32.7 (22.7-48.5) | <.001 | <.001 |
Abbreviations: ICU, intensive care unit; NA, not applicable.
a
P values were adjusted for multiple comparisons using the Benjamini-Hochberg procedure. P values are from significance tests comparing appropriate triage, undertriage, and control groups by each outcome.