Postoperative complications and hospital costs following open radical cystectomy: A retrospective study.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate primarily the relationship between postoperative complications and hospital costs, and secondarily the relationship between postoperative complications and mortality, following radical cystectomy. METHODS: Postoperative complications were retrospectively examined for 147 patients undergoing radical cystectomy at a university hospital between January 2012 and July 2021. Complications were defined and graded using the Clavien-Dindo classification system. In-hospital cost was calculated using an activity-based costing methodology. Regression modelling was used to investigate the relationships among a priori selected perioperative variables, complications, and costs. The effect of complications on postoperative mortality was ascertained using time-dependent coefficients in a Cox proportional hazards regression model. RESULTS: 135 (92%) patients experienced one or more postoperative complications. The medians of hospital cost for patients who experienced no complications and those who experienced complications were $42,796.3 (29,222.9-53,532.5) and $81,050.1 (49,614.8-122,533.6) respectively, p < 0.001. Hospital costs were strongly associated with complication severity: Clavien-Dindo grade II complications increased costs by 45.2% (p < 0.001, 95% CI 19.1%-76.6%), and Clavien-Dindo grade III to V complications increased costs by 107.5% (p < 0.001, 95% CI 52.4%-181.8%). Each additional count of complication and increase in Clavien-Dindo complication grade increased the risk of mortality 1.28-fold (RR = 1.28, p = 0.006, 95% CI 1.08-1.53) and 2.50-fold (RR = 2.50, p = 0.012 95% CI 1.23-5.07) respectively. CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate a high prevalence of complications following cystectomy and significant associated increases in hospital costs and mortality. Postoperative complications are a key target for cost-containment strategies. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Trial Registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN:12622000057785.

Tracheal Stent Buckling and In-stent Stenosis: A Proposed Airway Management Algorithm for Airway Obstruction for Patients With Tracheal Stents.

EMERGENCY AIRWAY management strategies for patients with complications due to tracheobronchial stents are of growing interest to anesthesiologists. Although tracheal stenting increasingly is used to manage tracheobronchial stenosis of both benign and malignant conditions,1-3 official guidelines for the perioperative airway management of patients with tracheobronchial stents in situ are lacking.3 Here, the authors discuss the management of airway obstruction from a tracheal stent strut protrusion and in-stent stenosis in a patient with a self-expanding nitinol tracheal stent in situ. They discuss the airway management strategy employed and outline a pragmatic airway management algorithm for patients with tracheal stents presenting with airway obstruction.