DR JUAN CRESTANELLO: Welcome to the cardiovascular surgery series where we discuss the latest research in cardiovascular surgery from the Mayo Clinic in just 2 minutes. I am Dr. Juan Crestanello and I am a cardiac surgeon at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. We will discuss, today, the impact of post-operative complications after cardiac surgery on long-term survival. In this study, we evaluated the impact of postoperative complications on long-term survival among 26,000 operative survivors.

Procedures included in the study were isolated CABG, isolated valve surgery, and combined valve plus CABG. 66% of the patients had at least one complication. The most common complication was blood transfusion followed by atrial fibrillation. The number of post-operative complications adversely affect long term survival. The type of complication also impacted survival differently. Renal failure, a stroke, and pneumonia had the greatest impact on five year survival.

We conclude that post-operative complications not only impacts operative outcomes and cost, but also have an important impact on long-term outcomes. Therefore, the prevention of postoperative complications is of paramount importance not only to improve quality, but also to improve long term outcomes. Thank you for listening to the Mayo Clinic cardiovascular surgery series.