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Presentation Description
Institution: Sunshine Coast University Hospital - Queensland, Australia
Purpose
Patients undergoing vascular surgery are often frail. Frailty estimates by validated risk calculators can inform operative planning and recovery. In this study, high-risk patients are assessed by surgical, anaesthetic and critical care clinicians via the Quality Focused Interventions for the Relief of Symptoms Team (QFIRST). This project reports outcomes of QFIRST for patients undergoing vascular surgery and correlates risk assessment with post-operative outcomes.
Methodology
Patients were identified from a prospective database since QFIRST inception in 2018. Peri-operative risk calculators used included the Edmonton Frailty Scale, WHODAS, ASA, MET and NSQIP. Risk estimates were compared against post-operative complications, length of stay and mortality.
Results
50 patients underwent QFIRST assessment. 32 endovascular aortic (64%), 8 open aortic (16%), 8 infra-inguinal (16%) and 2 extra-anatomical bypass (4%) procedures were proposed. 30 (60%) patients underwent the planned procedure, 5 (10%) a modified procedure and 15 (30%) did not proceed. Patients who proceeded to surgery had lower risk scores: Edmonton Frailty Scale (1.8 vs 2.9), WHODAS (23.5% vs 29.8%), ASA (3.2 vs 3.6), MET (3.3 vs 2.8) and NSQIP (serious complication 18.9% vs 23.4%, length of stay 5.0 vs 5.2 days, death 4.5% vs 7.3%). Post-operative medical and surgical complications occurred in 18.2% and 19.0% of patients, in-hospital mortality was 5.7% and mean length of stay 7.5 days.
Conclusion
Multi-disciplinary assessment of patients planned for vascular surgery is feasible and results in changes to management. Peri-operative risk is high in this population and may be under-estimated by common risk calculators, mandating collaborative evaluation.
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Authors
Authors
Dr Angus Pegler - , Dr Amanda Shepherd -