The association between unanticipated prolonged post-anaesthesia care unit length of stay and early postoperative deterioration: A retrospective cohort study

Abstract

: This study aimed to investigate whether there was an association between an unanticipated prolonged post-anaesthesia care unit (PACU) length of stay and early postoperative deterioration, as defined as the need for a rapid response team activation, within the first seven days of surgery. We conducted a single-centre retrospective cohort study of adult surgical patients, who stayed at least one night in hospital, and were not admitted to critical care immediately postoperatively, between 1 July 2017 and 30 June 2019. A total of 11,885 cases were analysed. PACU length of stay was significantly associated with rapid response team activation on both univariate (odds ratio (OR) per increment 1...