Hospital Readmissions Among Survivors Six Months After Myocardial Revascularization

One neglected but important measure of early morbidity after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) operations is rehospitalization. As part of a prospective study of recovery after elective CABG procedures conducted at four academic medical centers, data from all readmissions occurring within the first six postoperative months were collected for 326 patients. A total of 24% of patients had readmissions. The most common categories of readmission discharge diagnoses were cardiac (57%), noncardiac (26%), and surgical sequelae (17%). Factors from the initial hospitalization identified as risk factors for rehospitalization included: length of stay in intensive care unit after surgery, severe noncardiac complications, duration of preoperative cardiac symptoms, intra-aortic balloon insertion, and preoperative resting angina. These findings help to identify a subset of at risk patients for whom more careful surveillance might be beneficial.