Infectious complications account for almost half of the readmissions following radical cystectomy (RC), and the risk for these complications is linked to current smoking, according to a new study.
Using the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database, Sij Hemal, MD, of the Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C., and colleagues analyzed data from 961 patients who underwent RC for bladder cancer, of whom 159 (17%) required readmission at a median of 16 days post-RC. Of the 159 patients, 71 (45%) were readmitted for infectious complications, Dr. Hemal’s group reported online in Therapeutic Advances in Urology. Smoking was more significantly common in patients readmitted because of infectious complications compared with those readmitted for a non-infectious complication (37% vs. 25%). Smoking was independently associated with a significant 2.3 times increased odds of post-RC readmission due to an infectious cause.
“Counseling patients in smoking cessation prior to the procedure may provide an avenue for quality improvement to limit readmissions,” the authors wrote.
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