Gastrointestinal Bleeding During the Index Hospitalization for Mechanical Circulatory Support Devices Implantation, a Nationwide Perspective

Gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) is a common adverse event after mechanical circulatory support device implantation. However, the majority of the reported data were obtained from small single-center studies. Our aim was to study the prevalence and predictors of GIB during the index hospitalization of mechanical circulatory support devices implantation using a nationwide database. Nationwide inpatient sample (2009-2011) was used to perform a retrospective cross-sectional study. Adult patients with discharge diagnosis codes of congestive heart failure and procedure codes of left-ventricular assist device (LVAD) or intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) implantation or orthotopic heart transplant (OHT, reference group) were identified. Our outcome was GIB during the index hospitalization when the device was implanted. Predictors that achieved statistical significance on the univariate analysis were included in a multivariable logistic-regression analysis. A total of 87,462 patients were included, 87 % of the patients received an IABP, 6 % received LVAD, and 5 % underwent OHT. Prevalence of GIB was 8, 5, and 3 % among those who had LVAD, IABP implantation, and OHT recipients, respectively (p < 0.001). Patients who underwent LVAD implantation had twofold increase in the prevalence of GIB (OR 2.1, 1.7-2.5, p < 0.001) when using IABP or OHT groups as a reference. This increase in the prevalence was not demonstrated among IABP recipients on a multivariate level. Prevalence of GIB was higher among LVAD compared to OHT and IABP recipients and could occur as early as the index admission of the device implantation.