Objective: To examine the risk factors and outcomes of BI, a rare complication of abdominopelvic surgery.
Methods: We queried the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database to identify intraoperative bladder injury (BI) defined by the Current Procedural Terminology code for cystorrhaphy from 2005 to 2013. Propensity-score matching balanced the differences between patients with BI and the controls. The factors matched included age, body mass index, race, modified frailty index, and procedure category.
Results: There were 1685 cases of BI in 1,541,736 surgeries (0.11%). Although 49.5% of surgeries were performed in an open fashion, this approach accounted for 69.3% of BI (P < .001). Prior to matching, mortality rates and morbidity were increased for the BI group (P < .001). Moreover, age, recent chemotherapy or radiation or steroid history, and smoking were among the risk factors for BI (all P < .05). Resident involvement increased the odds of BI and complications after BI, but decreased the risk of readmission (all P < .05). After matching, 30-day mortality was no longer increased for patients with BI (P < .001). Patients with BI requiring repair did have increased median length of stay (6 days [interquartile range {IQR}: 3-11] vs 5 [IQR: 2-9]; P < .001) and operative time (203 min [IQR: 140-278] vs 134 [IQR: 86-199]; P < .001). BI patients were more likely to undergo reoperation (7.7% vs 5.3%; P = .005). Urine infection, sepsis, and bleeding were more likely in the BI group compared with the matched controls (all P < .001). Delayed repair was rare.
Conclusion: We present the largest national series assessing iatrogenic BI and subsequent repair. BI increases 30-day complications, reoperation, and length of stay but does not increase 30-day mortality compared with matched controls. More complex surgical cases and increased baseline comorbidity were risk factors for BI.
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