The Relationship Between Timing of Surgical Complications and Hospital Readmission JAMA SURGERY Morris, M. S., Deierhoi, R. J., Richman, J. S., Altom, L. K., Hawn, M. T. 2014; 149 (4): 348-354

Abstract

Readmissions after surgery are costly and may reflect quality of care in the index hospitalization.To determine the timing of postoperative complications with respect to hospital discharge and the frequency of readmission stratified by predischarge and postdischarge occurrence of complications.This is a retrospective cohort study of national Veterans Affairs Surgical Quality Improvement Program preoperative risk and outcome data on the Surgical Care Improvement Project cohort for operations performed from January 2005 to August 2009, including colorectal, arthroplasty, vascular, and gynecologic procedures. The association between timing of complication with respect to index hospitalization and 30-day readmission was modeled using generalized estimating equations.All-cause readmission within 30 days of the index surgical hospitalization discharge. RESULTS Our study of 59?273 surgical procedures performed at 112 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals found an overall complication rate of 22.6% (predischarge complications, 71.9%; postdischarge complications, 28.1%). The proportion of postdischarge complications varied significantly, from 8.7% for respiratory complications to 55.7% for surgical site infection (P?

View details for DOI 10.1001/jamasurg.2013.4064

View details for Web of Science ID 000334609900008

View details for PubMedID 24522747