Over 15 years, 30-day morbidity decreased from 13.8% to 10.3%, and the odds of postoperative mortality and failure to rescue were approximately 40% to 50% lower in the most recent year (P<0.001).
Cohort (n=704,901)
Yes
Have rates of 30-day morbidity, mortality, and failure to rescue improved over time for patients undergoing inpatient noncardiac surgery in the VA health system?
Over a 15-year period, the VA health system demonstrated significant improvements in 30-day morbidity, mortality, and failure to rescue following noncardiac surgery.
Absolute Event Rate: 10.3% vs 13.8%
p-value: p=<.001
Importance: The quality of surgical care in the Veterans Health Administration improved markedly in the 1990s after implementation of the Veterans Affairs (VA) National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (now called the VA Surgical Quality Improvement Program). Although there have been many recent evaluations of surgical care in the private sector, to date, a contemporary global evaluation has not been performed within the VA health system. Objective: To provide a contemporaneous report of noncardiac postoperative outcomes in the VA health system during the past 15 years. Design, Setting, and Participants: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using data from the VA Surgical Quality Improvement Program among veterans who underwent inpatient general, vascular, thoracic, genitourinary, neurosurgical, orthopedic, or spine surgery from October 1, 1999, through September 30, 2014. Main Outcomes and Measures: Rates of 30-day morbidity, mortality, and failure to rescue (FTR) over time. Results: Among 704 901 patients (mean SD age, 63.7 11.8 years; 676 750 96% male) undergoing noncardiac surgical procedures at 143 hospitals, complications occurred in 97 836 patients (13.9%), major complications occurred in 66 816 (9.5%), FTR occurred in 12 648 of the 97 836 patients with complications (12.9%), FTR after major complications occurred in 12 223 of the 66 816 patients with major complications (18.3%), and 18 924 patients (2.7%) died within 30 days of surgery. There were significant decreases from 2000 to 2014 in morbidity (8202 of 59 421 13.8% vs 3368 of 32 785 10.3%), major complications (5832 of 59 421 9.8% vs 2284 of 32 785 7%), FTR (1445 of 8202 17.6% vs 351 of 3368 10.4%), and FTR after major complications (1388 of 5832 23.8% vs 343 of 2284 15%) (trend test, P < .001 for all). Although there were no clinically meaningful differences in rates of complications and major complications across hospital risk-adjusted mortality quintiles (any complications: lowest quintile, 20 945 of 147 721 14.2% vs highest quintile, 18 938 of 135 557 14%; major complications: lowest quintile, 14 044 of 147 721 9.5% vs highest quintile, 12 881 of 135 557 9.5%), FTR rates (any complications: lowest quintile, 2249 of 20 945 10.7% vs highest quintile, 2769 of 18 938 14.6%; major complications: lowest quintile, 2161 of 14 044 15.4% vs highest quintile, 2663 of 12 881 20.7%) were significantly higher with increasing quintile (P < .001). However, across hospital quintiles, there were significant decreases in morbidity (20.6%-29.9% decrease; trend test, P < .001 for all) and FTR (29.2%-50.6% decrease; trend test, P < .001 for all) during the study period. After hierarchical modeling, the odds of postoperative mortality, FTR, and FTR after a major complication were approximately 40% to 50% lower in the most recent study year compared with 15 years ago (P < .001 for all). Conclusions and Relevance: For the past 15 years, morbidity, mortality, and FTR have improved within the VA health system. Other integrated health systems providing a high volume of surgical care for their enrollees may benefit by critically evaluating the system-level approaches of the VA health system to surgical quality improvement.
Massarweh et al. (2016) conducted a cohort in Inpatient noncardiac surgery (n=704,901). Most recent study year (2014) vs. 15 years ago (2000) was evaluated on 30-day morbidity (p=<.001). Over 15 years, 30-day morbidity decreased from 13.8% to 10.3%, and the odds of postoperative mortality and failure to rescue were approximately 40% to 50% lower in the most recent year (P<0.001).