Readmission after splenic salvage: How real is the risk?

Jarrett E Santorelli; Todd W Costantini; Allison E Berndtson; Leslie Kobayashi; Jay J Doucet; Laura N Godat

doi:10.1016/j.surg.2021.10.060

Readmission after splenic salvage: How real is the risk?

Surgery. 2022 May;171(5):1417-1421. doi: 10.1016/j.surg.2021.10.060. Epub 2021 Nov 29.

Authors

Jarrett E Santorelli¹, Todd W Costantini², Allison E Berndtson³, Leslie Kobayashi⁴, Jay J Doucet⁵, Laura N Godat⁶

Affiliations

¹ Division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care, Burns and Acute Care Surgery, Department of Surgery, UC San Diego School of Medicine, CA. Electronic address: https://twitter.com/JE_Santorelli.
² Division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care, Burns and Acute Care Surgery, Department of Surgery, UC San Diego School of Medicine, CA. Electronic address: https://twitter.com/TWCostantini.
³ Division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care, Burns and Acute Care Surgery, Department of Surgery, UC San Diego School of Medicine, CA. Electronic address: https://twitter.com/ABerndtson.
⁴ Division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care, Burns and Acute Care Surgery, Department of Surgery, UC San Diego School of Medicine, CA.
⁵ Division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care, Burns and Acute Care Surgery, Department of Surgery, UC San Diego School of Medicine, CA. Electronic address: https://twitter.com/jaydoucet.
⁶ Division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care, Burns and Acute Care Surgery, Department of Surgery, UC San Diego School of Medicine, CA. Electronic address: lgodat@health.ucsd.edu.

PMID: 34857387
DOI: 10.1016/j.surg.2021.10.060

Abstract

Background: Hemorrhage due to delayed splenic rupture is a potentially fatal complication of nonoperative management of splenic injuries. Suboptimal postdischarge follow-up has made measuring the incidence of failed splenic salvage challenging. We hypothesized that readmission after splenic salvage is rare; however, readmissions for splenic conditions would be associated with a high rate of splenectomy.

Methods: The National Readmission Database for 2016 and 2017 was queried for trauma admissions with the International Classification of Diseases 10th revision codes for splenic injury. Patients with missing discharge disposition, discharge to a short-term hospital, death during index admission, or admitted in December were excluded. The primary endpoint was nonelective 30-day readmission for splenic diagnoses after nonoperative management during the index admission. Outcomes collected included transfusions, complications, interventions at readmission, and mortality.

Results: There were 22,736 patients admitted for a traumatic splenic injury; 15,596 (68.6%) underwent no intervention, 2,261 (9.9%) were treated with embolization only, and 4,509 (19.8%) underwent splenectomy. The overall 30-day readmission rate was 8.4%, whereas the spleen-related readmission rate was 2.0%. For those treated with embolization or no intervention, the spleen-related 30-day readmission rate was 2.4%, with the majority (69.4%) occurring within 7 days of discharge. The most common complications were pleural effusion (23.0%), sepsis (4.4%), splenic abscess (3.9%), and splenic infarct (3.0%). Those patients readmitted for spleen-related diagnoses after undergoing splenic salvage during the index admission had a 22.3% rate of splenectomy and mortality of 1.6%.

Conclusion: Readmission after splenic salvage is rare, with the majority presenting within 1 week of discharge. However, of those readmitted for spleen injury-related diagnoses there was a high rate of splenectomy. Patients managed with splenic salvage should be counseled on the risk of potential failure and need for readmission and operation after discharge.

MeSH terms

Aftercare
Embolization, Therapeutic*
Humans
Patient Discharge
Patient Readmission
Retrospective Studies
Splenectomy
Splenic Diseases* / etiology
Splenic Diseases* / surgery
Wounds, Nonpenetrating* / therapy