The Association Between Sjogren Syndrome and Adverse Postoperative Outcomes: A Historical Cohort Study Using Administrative Health Data.

BACKGROUND: Sjogren syndrome is a chronic autoimmune disorder of the exocrine glands associated with cardiovascular events. We aimed to evaluate postoperative complications in patients with Sjogren syndrome undergoing noncardiac surgery. Specifically, we tested the primary hypothesis that patients with Sjogren syndrome have a greater risk of postoperative cardiovascular complications than those without the disease. Our secondary hypotheses were that patients with Sjogren syndrome are at greater risk of thromboembolic complications, microcirculatory complications, and mortality. METHODS: We obtained censuses of 2009 to 2010 inpatient hospital discharges across 7 states. Sjogren syndrome was identified by the present-on-admission diagnosis code 710.2. Each Sjogren n syndrome discharge was propensity matched to 4 control discharges. A generalized linear model was used to compare matched Sjogren syndrome patients and controls on risk of in-hospital cardiovascular complications, thromboembolic complications, microcirculatory complications, and mortality. RESULTS: Among 5.5 million qualifying discharges, our final matched sample contained 22,785 matched discharges, including 4557 with Sjogren syndrome. Sixty-six (1.45%) of the matched discharges with Sjogren syndrome and 213 (1.17%) of the matched controls had associated in-hospital cardiovascular complications. The adjusted odds ratio (99% confidence interval) was estimated at 1.14 (0.79-1.64), which was not statistically significant (P = 0.35). There were no significant differences in the odds of in-hospital thromboembolic complications (1.12 [0.82-1.53]; P = 0.36), in the odds of in-hospital microcirculatory complications (0.98 [0.77-1.26]; P = 0.86), or in the odds of in-hospital mortality (1.11 [0.76-1.61]; P = 0.49). CONCLUSIONS: The presence of Sjogren syndrome does not place patients at an increased risk for postoperative complications or in-hospital mortality.