Abstract
Introduction and hypothesis
Hospital readmission is increasingly used as a measure of quality care. Our objective was to evaluate the rate of readmission and associated factors in women undergoing suburethral sling placement in the USA.
Methods
This is a cohort study of suburethral sling procedures performed in the USA from 2012 to 2014 using the American College of Surgeons’ National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database. The database was queried for suburethral sling procedures. Records were excluded if concomitant surgery had been performed. Patient and surgical characteristics were evaluated for association with readmission using Chi-squared test for categorical variables and Student’s t test for continuous variables. All results yielding p < 0.05 were deemed statistically significant.
Results
A total of 7,117 suburethral sling procedures were identified. There were 83 (1.16%) hospital readmissions. Those who were readmitted tended to be older (p = 0.011), non-Hispanic (p = 0.04), smokers (p < 0.001), and have an American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status Classification System score of 3 or 4 (p = 0.001). A history of bleeding disorder (p < 0.001), congestive heart failure (p < 0.001), or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (p < 0.001) was associated with readmission. Fifty-four (0.75%) patients underwent reoperation within 30 days of suburethral sling placement. The most common reoperation procedure was sling excision (20 patients). The most common complication was urinary tract infection, which occurred in 189 patients (2.7%).
Conclusions
Suburethral sling placement is a safe procedure with a low rate of readmissions, reoperations, and complications. Consistent with other types of surgery, infection is the most common post-operative complication.
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Acknowledgements
The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program and the hospitals participating in the ACS NSQIP are the source of the data used herein; they have not verified and are not responsible for the statistical validity of the data analysis or the conclusions derived by the authors.
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Katie Propst: currently receiving clinical research grant from the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists (grant is unrelated to the current work).
David M. O’Sullivan and Paul K. Tulikangas: no conflicts of interest.
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Propst, K., O’Sullivan, D.M. & Tulikangas, P.K. Suburethral sling procedures in the United States: complications, readmission, and reoperation. Int Urogynecol J 28, 1463–1467 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-017-3293-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-017-3293-8