Readmission for dehydration or renal failure after ileostomy creation

Postoperative readmissions following ileostomy formation among patients with a gynecologic malignancy

OBJECTIVES

Ileostomy results in a relatively poorer water reabsorption and is associated with dehydration and renal injury. These problems may be exacerbated in the setting of gynecologic cancers owing to both patient and disease-related factors. We evaluated the rate and reasons for hospital readmission within 30 days of ileostomy creation in patients with a gynecologic malignancy.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective review of women with gynecologic malignancies who underwent ileostomy creation between 2002 and 2013.

RESULTS

Fifty-three patients were eligible for analysis. The mean age was 63.3 years. Most patients had ovarian cancer (86.5%). Indications for ileostomy included small bowel obstruction (45.3%), as part of primary debulking (18.9%), or treatment of an anastomotic leak (15.1%). The 30-day readmission rate was 34%. Co-morbid diseases such as hypertension (p=0.008) and chronic kidney disease (p=0.010) were more common among women who were readmitted. The most common reasons for readmission were dehydration (38.9%) and acute renal failure (33.3%); women readmitted for these conditions had higher average serum creatinine levels at initial postoperative discharge (1.00 mg/dL versus 0.71 mg/dL, p=0.017) than women who did not require readmission. Readmitted women had a trend toward shorter overall survival (0.41 years versus 1.67 years, p=0.061).

CONCLUSIONS

Readmission rates for gynecologic oncology patients undergoing ileostomy were similar to, but higher than those previously reported in the colorectal literature. In our population, patients with preexisting cardiovascular or renal disease were at the highest risk of readmission and may benefit from preemptive strategies to decrease high ostomy output and dehydration.

Effect of BMI on outcomes in proctectomy

BACKGROUND

The unique surgical challenges of proctectomy may be amplified in obese patients. We examined surgical outcomes of a large, diverse sample of obese patients undergoing proctectomy.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this work was to determine whether increased BMI is associated with increased complications in proctectomy.

DESIGN

This was a retrospective review.

SETTINGS

The study uses the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database (2010 and 2011).

PATIENTS

Patients included were those undergoing nonemergent proctectomy, excluding rectal prolapse cases. Patients were grouped by BMI using the World Health Organization classifications of underweight (BMI <18.5); normal (18.5-24.9); overweight (25.0-29.9); and class I (30.0-34.9), class II (35.0-39.9), and class III (≥40.0) obesity.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

We analyzed the effect of preoperative and intraoperative factors on 30-day outcomes. Continuous variables were compared with Wilcoxon rank-sum tests and proportions with the Fisher exact or χ tests. Logistic regression controlled for the effects of multiple risk factors.

RESULTS

Among 5570 patients, class I, II, and III obesity were significantly associated with higher rates of overall complications (44.0%, 50.8%, and 46.6% vs 38.1% for normal-weight patients; p < 0.05). Superficial wound infection was significantly higher in classes I, II, and III (11.6%, 17.8%, and 13.0% vs 8.0% for normal-weight patients; p < 0.05). Operative times for patients in all obesity classes were significantly longer than for normal-weight patients. On multivariate analysis, an obese BMI independently predicted complications; ORs (95% CIs) were 1.36 (1.14-1.62) for class I obesity, 1.99 (1.54-2.54) for class II, and 1.42 (1.02-1.96) for class III.

LIMITATIONS

This study was a retrospective design with limited follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS

Class I, II, and III obese patients were at significantly increased risk for morbidity compared with normal BMI patients. Class II obese patients had the highest rate of complications, a finding that deserves further investigation.