Heart Failure Raises Risks After Non-Cardiac Surgeries

A very large study was done recently on the odds of older people with heart failure having complications after non-cardiac surgeries. The study was published in Anethesiology and included Medicare data on more than 159,000 people.

Heart failure, the heart’s inability to pump blood, is a prevalent illness among older Americans, but is not usually a risk factor taken into account when they need other surgeries, such as hip replacement surgery or other non-cardiac surgeries. This study was done to heighten the awareness of this issue.

The study was divided into three groups: those with no condition, those with only coronary disease and those with heart failure. What they found was that 17 percent of patients with heart failure returned to the hospital after 30 days. Only 10 percent of those with coronary artery disease were re-hospitalized within 30 days, while only 8 percent of those with neither illness were back in the hospital after 30 days.

Doctors are suggesting that steps are taken, such as monitoring signs of heart failure and medications such as diuretics and beta blockers, to keep heart failure to a minimum.

Controlled studies are being planned to find out which measures could be effective in reducing risks of heart failure, but planning is in the early stages.







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