Association between multimorbidity and postoperative mortality in patients undergoing major surgery: a prospective study in 29 countries across Europe

Summary: Background Multimorbidity poses a global challenge to healthcare delivery. This study aimed to describe the prevalence of multimorbidity, common disease combinations and outcomes in a contemporary cohort of patients undergoing major abdominal surgery. Methods: This was a pre‐planned analysi...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: STARSurg Collaborative; EuroSurg Collaborative; Ferrer-Inaebnit, Ester; Segura-Sampedro, Juan José; Alfonso-García, María; Gutiérrez-Cañadas, Gemma; Oseira-Reigosa, Anaí; Torres-Marí, Noemí; Loyola-Miró, Julia; Villalonga Mut, Bartolomé; Camporro-González, Patricia; Pagés Valle, Naila; Colás Ruiz, Enrique; Cifuentes Rodenas, Jose Andres; Castro Suárez, Marta; Moll-Amengual, Rosa; Mata-Estevez, Javier; Fernández-Manzano, J
Format: Article
Publication date:2024
Country:España
Institution:Conselleria de Salut i Consum del Govern de les Illes Balears
Repository:Docusalut
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:docusalut.com:20.500.13003/26742
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13003/26742
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Abdomen
Adult
Aged
Europe
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Multimorbidity
Postoperative Complications
Prospective Studies
Adulto
Anciano
Europa (Continente)
Femenino
Humanos
Masculino
Persona de Mediana Edad
Multimorbilidad
Complicaciones Posoperatorias
Estudios Prospectivos
30‐day mortality
mortality
multimorbidity
surgery
Description
Summary:Summary: Background Multimorbidity poses a global challenge to healthcare delivery. This study aimed to describe the prevalence of multimorbidity, common disease combinations and outcomes in a contemporary cohort of patients undergoing major abdominal surgery. Methods: This was a pre‐planned analysis of a prospective, multicentre, international study investigating cardiovascular complications after major abdominal surgery conducted in 446 hospitals in 29 countries across Europe. The primary outcome was 30‐day postoperative mortality. The secondary outcome measure was the incidence of complications within 30 days of surgery. Results: Of 24,227 patients, 7006 (28.9%) had one long‐term condition and 10,486 (43.9%) had multimorbidity (two or more long‐term health conditions). The most common conditions were primary cancer (39.6%); hypertension (37.9%); chronic kidney disease (17.4%); and diabetes (15.4%). Patients with multimorbidity had a higher incidence of frailty compared with patients ≤ 1 long‐term health condition. Mortality was higher in patients with one long‐term health condition (adjusted odds ratio 1.93 (95%CI 1.16–3.23)) and multimorbidity (adjusted odds ratio 2.22 (95%CI 1.35–3.64)). Frailty and ASA physical status 3–5 mediated an estimated 31.7% of the 30‐day mortality in patients with one long‐term health condition (adjusted odds ratio 1.30 (95%CI 1.12–1.51)) and an estimated 36.9% of the 30‐day mortality in patients with multimorbidity (adjusted odds ratio 1.61 (95%CI 1.36–1.91)). There was no improvement in 30‐day mortality in patients with multimorbidity who received pre‐operative medical assessment. Conclusions: Multimorbidity is common and outcomes are poor among surgical patients across Europe. Addressing multimorbidity in elective and emergency patients requires innovative strategies to account for frailty and disease control. The development of such strategies, that integrate care targeting whole surgical pathways to strengthen current systems, is urgently needed for multimorbid patients. Interventional trials are warranted to determine the effectiveness of targeted management for surgical patients with multimorbidity.