• Thomas Vetsch, Sabrina Eggmann, François Jardot, Marc von Gernler, Dominique Engel, Christian M Beilstein, Patrick Y Wuethrich, Prisca Eser, and Matthias Wilhelm.
• Department of Anaesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Centre for Rehabilitation & Sports Medicine, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Graduate School for Health Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland. Electronic address: thomas.vetsch@insel.ch.
• Br J Anaesth. 2024 Jul 1; 133 (1): 178189178-189.

BackgroundMajor surgery is associated with high complication rates. Several risk scores exist to assess individual patient risk before surgery but have limited precision. Novel prognostic factors can be included as additional building blocks in existing prediction models. A candidate prognostic factor, measured by cardiopulmonary exercise testing, is ventilatory efficiency (VE/VCO2). The aim of this systematic review was to summarise evidence regarding VE/VCO2 as a prognostic factor for postoperative complications in patients undergoing major surgery.MethodsA medical library specialist developed the search strategy. No database-provided limits, considering study types, languages, publication years, or any other formal criteria were applied to any of the sources. Two reviewers assessed eligibility of each record and rated risk of bias in included studies.ResultsFrom 10,082 screened records, 65 studies were identified as eligible. We extracted adjusted associations from 32 studies and unadjusted from 33 studies. Risk of bias was a concern in the domains 'study confounding' and 'statistical analysis'. VE/VCO2 was reported as a prognostic factor for short-term complications after thoracic and abdominal surgery. VE/VCO2 was also reported as a prognostic factor for mid- to long-term mortality. Data-driven covariable selection was applied in 31 studies. Eighteen studies excluded VE/VCO2 from the final multivariable regression owing to data-driven model-building approaches.ConclusionsThis systematic review identifies VE/VCO2 as a predictor for short-term complications after thoracic and abdominal surgery. However, the available data do not allow conclusions about clinical decision-making. Future studies should select covariables for adjustment a priori based on external knowledge.Systematic Review ProtocolPROSPERO (CRD42022369944).Copyright © 2024 British Journal of Anaesthesia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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