Stop Drinking Before Surgery

Alcohol consumption is a significant contributor to adverse outcomes in elective surgery, according to a new study from the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Researchers studied more than 300,000 discharge records from the American College of Surgeons' National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database for elective adult admissions. The database includes data from approximately 125 hospitals across the country. Because of its size, this study was able to account for internal biases and determine the independent effect of alcohol consumption on morbidity and mortality following surgery.

Patient records examined in the study were divided into two groups: those with active alcohol exposure, which was defined as at least two drinks per day everyday for two weeks prior to surgery, and those who did not have active alcohol exposure. Those with active alcohol exposure represented 2.5 percent of the records examined. Researchers measured outcomes including length of stay, wound infection, sepsis and death, and found that alcohol use was an independent predictor of pneumonia, sepsis, superficial surgical site infection, wound disruption and longer median hospital stays, and that acute alcohol consumption had a significant effect on mortality.

"This is important information for both patients and surgeons," said Shimul A. Shah, PhD, assistant professor of surgery at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and senior author of the study. "Based on the significant adverse effects on outcomes following surgery, patients who regularly consume this amount of alcohol may want to consider postponing elective surgery until they have abstained from drinking for at least two weeks prior to surgery. Or surgeons may want to consider delaying surgery until patients have shown abstinence from alcohol for at least two weeks to avoid some of the potential complications."

Dr. Shah added that his study's findings serve as a basis for further research that can be done on the local level to examine alcohol consumption trends in more depth to determine the potential that undiagnosed cirrhosis is contributing to these poor surgical outcomes.