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Comparative Study
. 2022 Feb 1;5(2):e2148161.
doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.48161.

Association Between Handover of Anesthesiology Care and 1-Year Mortality Among Adults Undergoing Cardiac Surgery

Louise Y Sun  1   2   3 , Philip M Jones  2   4 , Duminda N Wijeysundera  2   5   6 , Mamas A Mamas  7 , Anan Bader Eddeen  2 , John O'Connor  1
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Association Between Handover of Anesthesiology Care and 1-Year Mortality Among Adults Undergoing Cardiac Surgery

Louise Y Sun et al. JAMA Netw Open. .

Erratum in

  • Errors in Figure 2.
    [No authors listed] [No authors listed] JAMA Netw Open. 2024 Apr 1;7(4):e2414027. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.14027. JAMA Netw Open. 2024. PMID: 38656581 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

Abstract

Importance: Handovers of anesthesia care from one anesthesiologist to another is an important intraoperative event. Despite its association with adverse events after noncardiac surgery, its impact in the context of cardiac surgery remains unclear.

Objective: To compare the outcomes of patients who were exposed to anesthesia handover vs those who were unexposed to anesthesia handover during cardiac surgery.

Design, setting, and participants: This retrospective cohort study in Ontario, Canada, included Ontario residents who were 18 years or older and had undergone coronary artery bypass grafting or aortic, mitral, tricuspid valve, or thoracic aorta surgical procedures between 2008 and 2019. Exclusion criteria were non-Ontario residency status and other concomitant procedures. Statistical analysis was conducted from April 2021 to June 2021, and data collection occurred between November 2020 to January 2021.

Exposures: Complete handover of anesthesia care, where the case is completed by the replacement anesthesiologist.

Main outcomes and measures: The coprimary outcomes were mortality within 30 days and 1 year after surgery. Secondary outcomes were patient-defined adverse cardiac and noncardiac events (PACE), intensive care unit (ICU), and hospital lengths of stay (LOS). Inverse probability of treatment weighting based on the propensity score was used to estimate adjusted effect measures. Mortality was assessed using a Cox proportional hazard model, PACE using a cause-specific hazard model with death as a competing risk, and LOS using Poisson regression.

Results: Of the 102 156 patients in the cohort, 25 207 (24.7%) were women; the mean (SD) age was 66.4 (10.8) years; and 72 843 of surgical procedures (71.3%) were performed in teaching hospitals. Handover occurred in 1926 patients (1.9%) and was associated with higher risks of 30-day mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 1.89; 95% CI, 1.41-2.54) and 1-year mortality (HR, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.31-2.12), as well as longer ICU (risk ratio [RR], 1.43; 95% CI, 1.22-1.68) and hospital (RR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.06-1.28) LOS. There was no statistically significant association between handover and PACE (30 days: HR 1.09; 95% CI, 0.79-1.49; 1 year: HR 0.89; 95% CI, 0.70-1.13).

Conclusions and relevance: Handover of anesthesia care during cardiac surgical procedures was associated with higher 30-day and 1-year mortality rates and increased health care resource use. Further research is needed to evaluate and systematically improve the handover process qualitatively.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Sun reported being named the National New Investigator by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and being a Tier 2 Clinical Research Chair in big data and cardiovascular outcomes at the University of Ottawa during the conduct of the study. Dr Wijeysundera reported being the Endowed Chair in Translational Anesthesiology Research at St. Michael's Hospital and the University of Toronto and receiving support from a merit award from the University of Toronto during the conduct of the study. No other disclosures were reported.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Temporal Trend in the Proportion of Complete Anesthesia Handover in Ontario
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Estimated 1-Year Mortality in the Inverse Probability of Treatment–Weighted Cohort
Figure 3.
Figure 3.. Cumulative Incidence of Patient-Defined Adverse Cardiovascular and Noncardiovascular Events (PACE) in the Inverse Probability of Treatment Weighted Cohort
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

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