• R Zhang, B Maher, J G R Ramos, A Hardidge, L Olenko, L Weinberg, R Robbins, L Churilov, P Peyton, and D Jones.
• Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Victoria 3084, Australia.
• Resuscitation. 2021 Feb 1; 159: 1-6.

BackgroundPatients undergoing orthopedic surgery are at risk of post-operative complications and needing Medical Emergency Team (MET) review. We assessed the frequency of, and associations with MET calls in orthopedic patients, and whether this was associated with increased in-hospital morbidity and mortality.MethodsRetrospective cohort study of patients admitted over four years to a University teaching hospital using hospital administrative and MET call databases.ResultsAmongst 6344 orthopedic patients, 55.8% were female, the median (IQR) age and Charlson comorbidity index were 66 years (47-79) and 3 (1-5), respectively. Overall, 54.5% of admissions were emergency admissions, 1130 (17.8%) were non-operative, and 605 (9.5%) patients received a MET call. The strongest independent associations with receiving a MET call was the operative procedure, especially hip and knee arthroplasty. Common MET triggers were hypotension (37.5%), tachycardia (25.0%) and tachypnoea (9.1%). Patients receiving a MET call were at increased risk of anemia, delirium, pressure injury, renal failure and wound infection. The mortality of patients who received a MET call was 9.8% compared with 0.8% for those who did not. After adjusting for pre-defined co-variates, requirement for a MET call was associated with an adjusted odd-ratio of 9.57 (95%CI 3.1-29.7) for risk of in-hospital death.ConclusionsApproximately 10% of orthopedic patients received a MET call, which was most strongly associated with major hip and knee arthroplasty. Such patients are at increased risk of morbidity and in-hospital mortality. Further strategies are needed to more pro-actively manage at-risk orthopedic patients.Crown Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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