• Marcovalerio Melis, Antonio Pinna, Shunpei Okochi, Antonio Masi, Alan S Rosman, Dena Neihaus, John K Saunders, Elliot Newman, and Thomas H Gouge.
• Department of Surgery, New York Harbor Healthcare System VAMC, New York, NY; Department of Surgery, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY. Electronic address: marcovalerio.melis@nyumc.org.
• J. Am. Coll. Surg.. 2014 Feb 1;218(2):218-25.

BackgroundThe Surgical Apgar Score (SAS, a 10-point score calculated using limited intraoperative data) can correlate with postoperative morbidity and mortality after general surgery. We evaluated reliability of SAS in a veteran population.Study DesignWe prospectively collected demographics, medical history, type of surgery, and postoperative outcomes for any veteran undergoing general surgery at our institution (2006-2011). We categorized patients in 4 SAS groups and compared differences in morbidity and mortality.ResultsOur study population included 2,125 patients (SAS ≤4: n = 29; SAS 5-6: n = 227; SAS 7-8: n = 797; SAS 9-10: n = 1,072). Low-SAS patients were likely to have significant preoperative comorbidities and to undergo major surgery, and had increased postoperative morbidity and 30-day mortality.ConclusionsThe SAS is easily calculated from 3 routinely available intraoperative measurements, correlates with fixed preoperative risk (acute conditions, pre-existing comorbidities, operative complexity), and effectively identifies veterans at high risk for postoperative complications.Published by Elsevier Inc.

24 keywords...

hide…