Postoperative pneumonia after bariatric surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic: a National Surgical Quality Improvement Program study. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, surgical centers had to weigh the benefits and risks of conducting bariatric surgery. Obesity increases the risk of developing severe COVID-19 infections, and therefore, bariatric surgery is beneficial. In contrast, surgical patients who test positive for COVID-19 have higher mortality rates. OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the national prevalence of postoperative pneumonia during the COVID-19 pandemic in the bariatric surgery population. SETTING: The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Project (ACS-NSQIP) database. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study using the ACS-NSQIP database. The population of concern included patients who underwent sleeve gastrectomy and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass procedures. Information was extracted on rate of postoperative pneumonia and other 30-day complications between 2018 and 2020. RESULTS: All baseline characteristics were similar among patients who underwent bariatric surgery between 2018 and 2020. However, there was a 156% increase in postoperative pneumonia in 2020 compared with the previous year. Furthermore, despite the similar postoperative complication rates across the years, there was a statistically significant increase in all-cause mortality in 2020. The multivariate analysis showed that having surgery in 2020 was a statistically significant risk factor for pneumonia development postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed a statistically significant increase in the prevalence of postoperative pneumonia during the COVID-19 pandemic among bariatric surgery patients. Surgical centers must continuously evaluate the risks associated with healthcare-associated exposure to COVID-19 and weigh the benefits of bariatric surgery.

publication date

  • June 18, 2022

Research

keywords

  • Bariatric Surgery
  • COVID-19
  • Gastric Bypass
  • Laparoscopy
  • Obesity, Morbid
  • Pneumonia

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC9212841

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 85134736739

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1016/j.soard.2022.06.015

PubMed ID

  • 35843783

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 18

issue

  • 10