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Assessment of functional capacity before major non-cardiac surgery: an international, prospective cohort study.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Wijeysundera, DN; Pearse, RM; Shulman, MA; Abbott, TEF; Torres, E; Ambosta, A; Croal, BL; Granton, JT; Thorpe, KE; Grocott, MPW; Farrington, C ...
Published in: Lancet
June 30, 2018

BACKGROUND: Functional capacity is an important component of risk assessment for major surgery. Doctors' clinical subjective assessment of patients' functional capacity has uncertain accuracy. We did a study to compare preoperative subjective assessment with alternative markers of fitness (cardiopulmonary exercise testing [CPET], scores on the Duke Activity Status Index [DASI] questionnaire, and serum N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide [NT pro-BNP] concentrations) for predicting death or complications after major elective non-cardiac surgery. METHODS: We did a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study at 25 hospitals: five in Canada, seven in the UK, ten in Australia, and three in New Zealand. We recruited adults aged at least 40 years who were scheduled for major non-cardiac surgery and deemed to have one or more risk factors for cardiac complications (eg, a history of heart failure, stroke, or diabetes) or coronary artery disease. Functional capacity was subjectively assessed in units of metabolic equivalents of tasks by the responsible anaesthesiologists in the preoperative assessment clinic, graded as poor (<4), moderate (4-10), or good (>10). All participants also completed the DASI questionnaire, underwent CPET to measure peak oxygen consumption, and had blood tests for measurement of NT pro-BNP concentrations. After surgery, patients had daily electrocardiograms and blood tests to measure troponin and creatinine concentrations until the third postoperative day or hospital discharge. The primary outcome was death or myocardial infarction within 30 days after surgery, assessed in all participants who underwent both CPET and surgery. Prognostic accuracy was assessed using logistic regression, receiver-operating-characteristic curves, and net risk reclassification. FINDINGS: Between March 1, 2013, and March 25, 2016, we included 1401 patients in the study. 28 (2%) of 1401 patients died or had a myocardial infarction within 30 days of surgery. Subjective assessment had 19·2% sensitivity (95% CI 14·2-25) and 94·7% specificity (93·2-95·9) for identifying the inability to attain four metabolic equivalents during CPET. Only DASI scores were associated with predicting the primary outcome (adjusted odds ratio 0·96, 95% CI 0·83-0·99; p=0·03). INTERPRETATION: Subjectively assessed functional capacity should not be used for preoperative risk evaluation. Clinicians could instead consider a measure such as DASI for cardiac risk assessment. FUNDING: Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, Ontario Ministry of Research, Innovation and Science, UK National Institute of Academic Anaesthesia, UK Clinical Research Collaboration, Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists, and Monash University.

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Published In

Lancet

DOI

EISSN

1474-547X

Publication Date

June 30, 2018

Volume

391

Issue

10140

Start / End Page

2631 / 2640

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Risk Assessment
  • Prospective Studies
  • Postoperative Complications
  • Peptide Fragments
  • Natriuretic Peptide, Brain
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Internationality
  • Humans
 

Citation

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Wijeysundera, D. N., Pearse, R. M., Shulman, M. A., Abbott, T. E. F., Torres, E., Ambosta, A., … METS study investigators, . (2018). Assessment of functional capacity before major non-cardiac surgery: an international, prospective cohort study. Lancet, 391(10140), 2631–2640. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31131-0
Wijeysundera, Duminda N., Rupert M. Pearse, Mark A. Shulman, Tom E. F. Abbott, Elizabeth Torres, Althea Ambosta, Bernard L. Croal, et al. “Assessment of functional capacity before major non-cardiac surgery: an international, prospective cohort study.Lancet 391, no. 10140 (June 30, 2018): 2631–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31131-0.
Wijeysundera DN, Pearse RM, Shulman MA, Abbott TEF, Torres E, Ambosta A, et al. Assessment of functional capacity before major non-cardiac surgery: an international, prospective cohort study. Lancet. 2018 Jun 30;391(10140):2631–40.
Wijeysundera, Duminda N., et al. “Assessment of functional capacity before major non-cardiac surgery: an international, prospective cohort study.Lancet, vol. 391, no. 10140, June 2018, pp. 2631–40. Pubmed, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31131-0.
Wijeysundera DN, Pearse RM, Shulman MA, Abbott TEF, Torres E, Ambosta A, Croal BL, Granton JT, Thorpe KE, Grocott MPW, Farrington C, Myles PS, Cuthbertson BH, METS study investigators. Assessment of functional capacity before major non-cardiac surgery: an international, prospective cohort study. Lancet. 2018 Jun 30;391(10140):2631–2640.
Journal cover image

Published In

Lancet

DOI

EISSN

1474-547X

Publication Date

June 30, 2018

Volume

391

Issue

10140

Start / End Page

2631 / 2640

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Risk Assessment
  • Prospective Studies
  • Postoperative Complications
  • Peptide Fragments
  • Natriuretic Peptide, Brain
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Internationality
  • Humans