Impact of preoperative Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS) and American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) scores on perioperative complications in patients with recurrent glioma undergoing repeated operation

The objective of this study was to document the impact of the preoperative Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS) and American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) scores on perioperative complications in patients with recurrent glioma who underwent tumor resection via craniotomy. A total of 96 patients were retrospectively reviewed. Based on KPS and ASA scores, patients were categorized into high KPS (> 70) or low KPS (≤ 70) and high ASA (3~4) or low ASA (1~2) groups. Differences in intraoperative risk factors and perioperative complications among the groups were analyzed. Multivariate analysis was performed to identify risk factors for perioperative complications. The most frequent perioperative complications were cerebrospinal fluid leakage (31.8%) and intracranial infection (27.0%); 30-day mortality was 5.2%. The incidence rates of severe complications, central nervous system complications, and total complications were comparable in the low and high KPS groups and in the low and high ASA groups (all p > 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that low KPS and high ASA scores were not the independent risk factors for perioperative complications. Low KPS and high ASA scores are not associated with increased postoperative complications in patients with recurrent glioma who undergo tumor resection via craniotomy.