• Wilson R Jonathan T RJT York Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, York, UK. Electronic address: jonathan.rjt.wilson@york.nhs.uk., Yates David R A DRA York Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, York, UK., James P Walkington, and Simon J Davies.
• York Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, York, UK. Electronic address: jonathan.rjt.wilson@york.nhs.uk.
• Br J Anaesth. 2019 Aug 1; 123 (2): 238-245.

BackgroundImpaired cardiorespiratory reserve is an accepted risk factor for patients having major surgery. Ventilatory inefficiency, defined by an elevated ratio of minute ventilation to carbon dioxide excretion (VE/VCO2), and measured by cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET), is a pathophysiological characteristic of patients with cardiorespiratory disease. We set out to evaluate the prevalence of ventilatory inefficiency in a colorectal cancer surgical population, and its influence on surgical outcomes and long-term cancer survival.MethodsIn this retrospective study of 1375 patients who had undergone preoperative CPET followed by colorectal cancer surgery, we used receiver operating characteristic curve analysis to identify an optimal value of VE/VCO2 associated with 90-day mortality. Binary logistic regression was used to evaluate whether this degree of ventilatory inefficiency was independently associated with decreased survival, both after surgery and in the longer term.ResultsWe identified an optimal VE/VCO2 >39 cut-off for predicting 90-day mortality; 245 patients (17.8%) had VE/VCO2 >39, of which 138 (10% of total cohort) had no known cardiorespiratory risk factors. Ventilatory inefficiency was independently associated with death at 90-days (8.2% mortality vs 1.9%; adjusted odds ratio [OR], 4.04; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.09-7.84), with death after unplanned critical care admission (OR=4.45; 95% CI, 1.37-14.46) and with decreased survival at 2 yr (OR=2.21; 95%, 1.49-3.28) and 5 yr (OR=2.87; 95% CI, 1.54-5.37) after surgery.ConclusionsA significant proportion of patients having colorectal cancer surgery have ventilatory inefficiency observed on CPET, the majority of whom have no history of cardiorespiratory risk factors. This group of patients has significantly decreased survival both after surgery and in the long-term, irrespective of cancer stage. Survival might be improved by formal medical evaluation and intervention in this group.Copyright © 2019 British Journal of Anaesthesia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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