• P G Noordzij, O van Geffen, I M Dijkstra, D Boerma, A J Meinders, T C D Rettig, F D Eefting, D van Loon, E M W van de Garde, and E P A van Dongen.
• Department of Anaesthesia, Intensive Care and Pain Medicine p.noordzij@antoniusziekenhuis.nl.
• Br J Anaesth. 2015 Jun 1; 114 (6): 909-18.

BackgroundPostoperative non-cardiac complication rates are as high as 11-28% after high-risk abdominal procedures. Emerging evidence indicates that postoperative cardiac troponin T elevations are associated with adverse outcome in non-cardiac surgery. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between postoperative high-sensitive cardiac troponin T elevations and non-cardiac complications in patients after major abdominal surgery.MethodsThis prospective observational single-centre cohort study included patients at risk for coronary artery disease undergoing elective major abdominal surgery. Cardiac troponin was measured before surgery and at day 1, 3, and 7. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the adjusted association for different cut-off concentrations of postoperative myocardial injury and non-cardiac outcome.ResultsIn 203 patients, 690 high-sensitive cardiac troponin T measurements were performed. Fifty-three patients (26%) had a non-cardiac complication within 30 days after surgery. Hospital mortality was 4% (8/203). An increase in cardiac troponin T concentration ≥100% compared with baseline was a superior independent predictor of non-cardiac postoperative clinical complications (adjusted odds ratio 4.3, 95% confidence interval 1.8-10.1, P<0.001) and was associated with increased length of stay (9 days, 95% confidence interval 7-11 vs 7 days, 95% confidence interval 6-8, P=0.004) and increased hospital mortality (12 vs 2%, P=0.028).ConclusionsA postoperative high-sensitive cardiac troponin T increase ≥100% is a strong predictor of non-cardiac 30 day complications, increased hospital stay and hospital mortality in patients undergoing major abdominal surgery.Clinicaltrialsgov IdentifierNCT02150486.© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Journal of Anaesthesia. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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