Center-Level Variation in Failure to Rescue After Elective Adult Cardiac Surgery

BACKGROUND There has been increasing emphasis on evaluation of failure to rescue (FTR) after major inpatient operations. The present study characterized center-level variation in FTR within a national cohort of patients undergoing elective cardiac operations. METHODS All adults undergoing elective coronary artery bypass grafting and/or valve operations were identified in the 2016-2019 Nationwide Readmissions Database. FTR was defined as in-hospital death after prolonged mechanical ventilation, stroke, reoperation, acute kidney injury requiring dialysis, sepsis, cardiac arrest or pulmonary embolism. Multi-level, mixed-effects regressions were used to model mortality, complications, and FTR. Centers with high hospital specific rates of FTR (>= 95th percentile) were identified and compared to others. RESULTS Of an estimated 454,506 patients included for analysis, 32,537 (7.2%) developed at least 1 complication, and 7669 (1.7%) died before discharge. Overall, 5370 (16.5%) patients experienced FTR. Compared with those who developed >= 1 complication but survived to discharge, FTR patients were significantly older, more commonly female, and had a greater burden of comorbidities as measured by the Elixhauser Comorbidity Index. Risk-adjusted, hospital specific rates of mortality and FTR were moderately correlated (r = 0.64), mortality and complications were weakly associated (r = 0.16), and complications and FTR exhibited a very weak relationship (r = -0.02). Relative to others, centers with high rates of FTR had lower annual cardiac surgical volume (median 61 [interquartile range 33-133] vs 80 [interquartile range 43-149] cases/y, P = .019). CONCLUSIONS The present findings affirm prior work demonstrating a close link between variation in FTR and mortality, but not complications. Further study is necessary to delineate modifiable care pathways that mitigate FTR. (Ann Thorac Surg 2023;116:1311-9)(c) 2023 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc.