Maternal postoperative complications after nonobstetric antenatal surgery

Objective: Our primary objective is to estimate the occurrence of major maternal 30 day postoperative complications after nonobstetric antenatal surgery. Methods: We analyzed the 2005–2009 data files from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program to assess outcomes for pregnant women undergoing nonobstetric antenatal surgery during any trimester of pregnancy as classified by CPT-4 codes. t Tests, χ2, logistic regression and other tests were used to calculate composite 30-day major postoperative complications and associations of preoperative predictors with 30 day postoperative morbidity. Results: The most common nonobstetric antenatal surgical procedure among the 1969 included women was appendectomy (44.0%). The prevalence of composite 30-day major postoperative complications was 5.8% (n = 115). This included (not exclusive categories): return to the surgical operating room within 30 days of surgery 3.6%, infectious morbidity 2.0%, wound morbidity 1.4%, 30 day respiratory morbidity 2.0%, venous thromboembolic event morbidity 0.5%, postoperative blood transfusion 0.2%, and maternal mortality 0.25%. Conclusion: Major maternal postoperative complications following nonobstetric antenatal surgery were low (5.8%). Maternal postoperative mortality was rare (0.25%).