UC Irvine

There are limited data regarding the specific risk factors of postoperative myocardial infarction (MI) in patients undergoing colorectal resectional surgery. We sought to identify risk factors of acute MI after colorectal resection operations. The National Inpatient Sample database was used to identify patients who had postoperative MI after colorectal resection operations between 2002 and 2010. Statistical analysis was performed to identify factors predictive of postoperative MI. We sampled a total of 2,513,124 patients undergoing colorectal resection, of whom 38,317 (1.5%) sustained a postoperative MI. Patients with postoperative MI had associated 28.5 per cent in-hospital mortality. Risk factors identified include (P < 0.01): history of congestive heart failure (odds ratio [OR], 8.18), chronic renal failure (OR, 3.86), age 70 years or older (OR, 3.68), peripheral vascular disorders (OR, 2.93), fluid and electrolyte disorders (OR, 2.69), emergency admission (OR, 2.56), preoperative weight loss (OR, 2.49), cardiac valvular disease (OR, 2.46), chronic lung disease (OR, 1.75), deficiency anemia (OR, 1.22), colorectal cancer (OR, 1.77), and hypertension (OR, 1.14). Postoperative MI occurs in less than 2 per cent of colorectal resections. However, patients sustaining postoperative MI are over six times more likely to die. Congestive heart failure and chronic renal failure are the strongest predictors of postoperative MI.