For a study, researchers sought to use a national administrative database to study the trends of abdominal GI surgery and the postoperative outcomes among adult cystic fibrosis patients. They looked at data from 2000 to 2014 from an all-payer administrative database. The study included adults (aged 18 or older) who had cystic fibrosis and underwent abdominal surgery. The main outcome that they looked at was the trend over time in the number of surgical admissions. They also looked at secondary outcomes such as morbidity and mortality by procedure type. In total, they identified 3,075 admissions for abdominal surgery, of which 28% were elective. In the study period, there was an increase in major GI surgical procedures (P<0.01). However, there wasn’t a clear trend for appendectomy and cholecystectomy (P=0.90). The most common procedure performed was cholecystectomy (n=1,280; 42%). The most common major surgery was segmental colectomy (n = 535; 18%). Obstruction was the most common surgical indication (n=780; 26%). For major surgery, in-hospital mortality was 6%, morbidity was 37%, and the mean length of stay was 15.9 days (SE 1.2). The study was limited because there was a lack of detailed physiological and clinical data in the administrative data source. The number of major surgical admissions for adult patients with cystic fibrosis was increasing, and most of these were not elective. Major surgery was associated with significant morbidity, mortality, and prolonged length of hospital stay. These findings may help them understand the risks associated with major surgery for adult patients with cystic fibrosis who need gastrointestinal surgery.
