Outpatient gynecologic surgeries are very common; in 2014 alone, 500,000 procedures were performed with 70% and 85% of hysterectomies and oophorectomies, respectively, performed in the outpatient setting. Although risk factors for overnight or prolonged admission after outpatient hysterectomy have been studied, less is known about the postoperative emergency department (ED) burden generated by other outpatient gynecologic surgeries.
The objective of this retrospective cohort study was to identify the incidence of ED visits within 30 days of outpatient gynecologic surgery and to identify risk factors for these visits. This study included all adult patients undergoing scheduled outpatient gynecologic surgery for a benign condition at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), a tertiary academic medical institution, between January 2018 and September 2019. Demographic data, as well as comorbidities, surgical history, and surgical outcomes data, were obtained from the electronic medical record. Primary procedure performed was characterized into 1 of 4 categories: hysterectomy, other intra-abdominal nonprolapse surgery, prolapse surgery without hysterectomy, or other nonprolapse vulvovaginal procedure. The primary study outcome was evaluation in the VUMC ED within 30 days of surgery. Logistic regression models were used to evaluate associations between potential risk factors and the risk of an ED visit.
A total of 2373 surgeries met the inclusion criteria, with 109 patients (5%) visiting the VUMC ED for a total of 125 visits within 30 days of surgery. After adjustment for potential confounders, younger age (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1–1.3; P < 0.001), history of abdominal surgery (aOR, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.1–2.6; P = 0.02), cardiopulmonary comorbidities (aOR, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.2–3.0; P = 0.004), undergoing hysterectomy (aOR, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.1–3.8; P = 0.03), and a vulvovaginal surgical route as opposed to abdominal surgical route (aOR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.2–5.1; P = 0.02) were all related to an increased risk of visiting the emergency room. Patients who visited the ED were more likely to have undergone hysterectomy (26% vs 20%, P = 0.05) and less likely to have undergone prolapse surgery (4% vs 12%, P = 0.05). The median time to first ED presentation was 7 days following surgery and surgical site pain (n = 52 [42% of visits]), nausea and/or vomiting (n = 18 [14%]), and fever (n = 15 [12%]) were the most common chief complaints. Of the 125 visits, 45 (36%) resulted in admission, and 36 of these (80%) were surgery related.
The results of this study demonstrate that although ED visits after outpatient gynecologic surgery are uncommon, younger patients with underlying cardiopulmonary comorbidities and/or a history of abdominal surgery are at greater risk.
