Joeky Senders

28 Chapter 2 Results Demographics of study population 7376 NSQIP-reported patients underwent craniotomy for resection of a primary malignant brain tumor during the study period. Comorbidities, demographics, and preoperative laboratory values separated by occurrence of a major complication are summarized in Table 1. Outcomes 16.4% of patients experienced any complication, and 12.9% of patients experienced a major complication in the first 30 days after surgery (Table 2). The most common major complications were reoperation (5.1%), venous thromboembolism (3.5%), and death (2.6%). Most major complications occurred within the first two weeks after surgery (median time to major complication: nine days), and 82.3% occurred during hospitalization. The median hospital stay was four days (interquartile range three to eight days), and 15.6% of patients stayed longer than ten days. During the initial 30- days after surgery, 5.1% of patients required reoperation at a median of 12 days after surgery. The most common reasons for reoperation were intracranial hemorrhage (ICH, 18.5%), hydrocephalus (17.8%), and resection of residual tumor tissue (16.4%). Readmission occurred in 11.5% of cases, at a median of 12 days after discharge. The most common reasons for readmission were wound-related complications (11.9%), seizures (8.8%), and venous thromboembolism (7.4%) (Figure 1). Death within 30 days after surgery occurred in 2.6% of cases, of which 37.9% occurred during the initial hospital stay. The incidence of major complications, extended length of stay, reoperation, and death remained fairly consistent from 2009 to 2015 (Figure 2). After an initial drop in 2012, the readmission rate also remains fairly consistent; however, no readmission data was available for patients operated on before 2011.