• Pediatric neurosurgery · Jan 2011

    Perioperative factors associated with prolonged intensive care unit and hospital length of stay after pediatric neurosurgery.

    • Eduardo Mekitarian Filho, Werther Brunow de Carvalho, Sérgio Cavalheiro, Nelson Kazunobu Horigoshi, and Norberto Antonio Freddi.
    • Pediatric Emergency Department, University Hospital, São Paulo University, São Paulo, Brazil. emf2002@uol.com.br
    • Pediatr Neurosurg. 2011 Jan 1;47(6):423-9.

    ObjectivesThis study aims to describe the association between different postoperative complications and the length of hospital stay among children undergoing neurosurgical procedures.MethodsA retrospective cohort study was carried out between May 2004 and May 2009 in a tertiary community hospital. All postoperative complications following neurosurgical procedures and their association with the main outcomes [length of intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital stay] were investigated in a univariate and multivariate analysis.ResultsThe medical records of 198 patients treated during the study period were reviewed. The most frequently performed surgeries were ventriculoperitoneal shunting (16.7%), correction of craniosynostosis (30%) and brain tumor resections (28.3%). Of the 198 patients eligible for this analysis, 79 (39.9%) suffered from at least one complication. The most frequent complications were fever (30.3%), hypothermia (16%), postextubation laryngitis (15.1%) and postoperative bleeding (7%). Factors independently associated with a longer pediatric ICU stay were fever (odds ratio 1.39, 95% confidence interval 1.1-3.2; p = 0.001), laryngitis (odds ratio 2.24, 95% confidence interval 1.8-5.2; p = 0.001), postoperative bleeding requiring reoperation (odds ratio 1.8, 95% confidence interval 1.4-3.9; p < 0.001) and infection (odds ratio 3.71, 95% confidence interval 1.8-12.4; p = 0.033). Fever (odds ratio 2.54, 95% confidence interval 2-7.4; p = 0.001) and infection (odds ratio 11.23, 95% confidence interval 4-22.4; p = 0.003) were related to the total length of the patient's hospital stay.ConclusionsIn this study population, most elective neurosurgical procedures were not associated with significant complications, and morbidity and mortality were low. Some complications significantly influenced patients' outcomes and should be monitored for early diagnosis. This study may improve our understanding and identification of postoperative outcomes in pediatric neurosurgery.Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel.

      Pubmed     Full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…