Original article
Obesity surgery mortality risk score: proposal for a clinically useful score to predict mortality risk in patients undergoing gastric bypass

Presented at the 2006 Plenary Session of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery (ASBS), San Francisco, CA, June–July 2006.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soard.2007.01.005Get rights and content

Abstract

Background

Currently, no clinically useful scoring system is available to stratify the mortality risk for patients undergoing gastric bypass (GBP). We propose the obesity surgery mortality risk score as a clinically useful score system to predict the mortality risk for patients undergoing GBP.

Methods

Prospectively collected data from 2075 consecutive patients undergoing GBP at a single university from 1995 to 2004 were analyzed to determine the preoperative factors correlating with 90-day mortality.

Results

Four independent variables correlated with mortality using multivariate analysis, including body mass index ≥50 kg/m2 (odds ratio [OR] 3.60, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.44–8.99), male gender (OR 2.80, 95% CI 1.32–5.92), hypertension (OR 2.78, 95% CI 1.11–7.00), and a novel variable pulmonary embolus risk, that included previous thrombosis, pulmonary embolus, inferior vena cava filter, right heart failure, and obesity hypoventilation (OR 2.62, 95% CI 1.12–6.12). A fifth variable, patient age ≥45 years (OR 1.64, 95% CI 0.78–3.48), significant on univariate analysis, was added to the ultimate scoring system because of its significance in other studies. A scoring system was developed by arbitrarily scoring the presence of each independent variable as equal to 1 point, resulting in an overall score of 0–5 points for each patient. The factors were grouped into 3 risk classes (A, B, or C) to increase the evaluable cases in each class (e.g., <1% of 2075 patients accrued all 5 points). The mortality rate among the 3 risk classes was significantly different: class A, 0.31%; class B, 1.90%; and class C, 7.56%.

Conclusion

The analysis reveals that mortality risk for gastric bypass can be stratified based upon independent variables that can be identified before surgery. The OS-MRS, a simple, clinically relevant scoring system, is proposed, which stratifies mortality risk into low (Class A), intermediate (Class B), and high (Class C) risk groups in the current study population. This risk assessment scoring system may contribute to surgical decision making in bariatric surgery if its ability to stratify risk is validated in subsequent studies.

Section snippets

Methods

The database of 2075 patients who had undergone open or laparoscopic GBP at Virginia Commonwealth University hospitals from 1995 through 2004 was analyzed. Since the database was started in 1987, it has been prospectively maintained and updated using the patients’ in-hospital and clinic records. The institutional review board approved the collection of the data in a secure database and reporting on the analyses. Patients were considered eligible for surgery for obesity according to the 1991

Results

Table 1 shows the univariate analysis results of the preoperative variables examined. Several factors that increased the likelihood of postoperative pulmonary complications were identified as significant on univariate analysis, including obstructive sleep apnea, venous stasis disease, and OHS. Conditions known to correlate with an increased risk of PE include OHS, right heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, venous stasis disease with or without skin ulcers, and previous venous thromboembolism

Discussion

In this study, we used univariate and multivariate techniques to analyze the data from a database of a tertiary care center that has specialized in bariatric surgery for >2 decades. Statistically significant preoperatively attainable risk factors were identified using univariate analyses, and then a model was selected based upon multivariate regression analysis. The goal was to create a scoring system for risk assessment that might gain acceptance as a clinically relevant framework for

Disclosures

The authors have no commercial associations that might be a conflict of interest in relation to this article.

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