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Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Study Objectives: To investigate postoperative outcomes following total hip arthroplasty (THA) in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). To evaluate trends in the use of regional anesthesia (RA) versus general anesthesia (GA) following the publication of practical guidelines. To compare postoperative outcomes according to anesthesia type., Design: Retrospective analysis., Setting: Operating room., Patients: 349,008 patients who underwent elective THA in Florida, New York, Maryland, and Kentucky between 2007 and 2014 were extracted from the State Inpatient Databases (SID), Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, including 18,063 patients with OSA (5.2%)., Interventions: No intervention., Measurements: The effect of OSA on postoperative outcomes was investigated using bivariate analysis and multivariable logistic regression models. Outcomes studied included in-hospital mortality, postoperative complications, length of stay (LOS), and post-discharge readmissions. In a population from New York only, (n = 105,838 with 5306 patients with OSA [5.0%]), we investigated the outcomes in the OSA population according to the anesthesia type. Analysis was performed overall and for each individual year., Main Results: The OSA prevalence increased from 1.7% in 2007 to 7.1% in 2014. In multivariable analysis, there was no effect of OSA on in-hospital mortality (aOR:0.57; 0.31-1.04). Postoperative complications, LOS, and readmission rates were all higher in patients with OSA. In patients with OSA receiving GA than those receiving RA, we found a higher rate of complications overall and pulmonary complications specifically in men and higher rate of 90-day readmission in women. Over the study period, the rate of GA use in patients with OSA increased., Conclusions: The OSA prevalence in patients undergoing THA increased fourfold over the study period. OSA was associated with increased overall postoperative complications, LOS, and readmission, but not with in-hospital mortality. Despite the publication of guidelines favoring RA over GA, the use of GA increased over the study period., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Study Objective: We performed a systematic comparison of high-dose and low-dose opioid anesthesia in cardiac surgery., Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs)., Setting: Operating room., Patients: 1400 adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery using general anesthesia., Interventions: All RCTs comparing the effects of various doses of intravenous opioids (morphine, fentanyl, sufentanil, and remifentanil) during adult cardiac surgery using general anesthesia published until May 2018 (full-text English articles reporting data from human subjects) were included., Measurements: Primary outcome was intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay (LOS). Secondary outcomes were ventilation time, use of vasopressors, perioperative myocardial infarction, perioperative stroke, and hospital LOS., Main Results: Eighteen articles were included (1400 patients). There was no difference in ICU LOS between studies using high or low dose of opioids (both short-acting and long-acting) (standard mean difference [SMD]-0.02, 95%CI: -0.15-0.11, P = 0.74). Similarly, there was no difference in secondary outcomes of ventilation time (SMD-0.27, 95%CI: -0.63-0.09, P = 0.14), use of vasopressors (OR 0.61, 95%CI: 0.29-1.30, P = 0.20), myocardial infarction (risk difference 0.00, 95% CI: -0.02-0.03, P = 0.70), stroke (RD 0.00, 95% CI: -0.01-0.01, P = 0.92) and hospital LOS (SMD 0.03, 95% CI: -0.26-0.33, P = 0.84). At meta-regression, there was no effect of age, gender, or type of opioid on the difference between groups., Conclusions: Our data suggest that low-dose opioids, both short acting and long acting, are safe and effective to use in adult cardiac surgery patients, independent of the clinical characteristics of the patients and the type of opioid used. In view of the current opioid epidemic, low-dose opioid anesthesia should be considered for cardiac surgery patients., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Study Objective: To understand the effect of obstructive sleep apnea on readmission rates and post-operative atrial fibrillation in the cardiac surgical population., Design: Retrospective cohort study., Setting: Administrative database consisting of 2007-2014 data from California, Florida, New York, Kentucky, and Maryland from the State Inpatient Databases, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project., Patients: A total of 506,604 patients ≥18 years old who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting surgery (CABG) and/or valve surgery were included in the study. After excluding for death during the index hospitalization and missing data, 396,657 patients remained for 30-day readmission analysis., Interventions: None., Measurements: Primary outcomes were unadjusted rates and adjusted odds of 30-day readmission. Secondary outcomes included post-operative atrial fibrillation and readmission diagnoses. Bivariate associations were assessed between OSA status, covariates and potential confounders, and outcomes. Odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated. Statistical significance was assessed at p < 0.05., Main Results: The overall 30-day readmission rate was 17.2%, with a rate of 19.6% vs. 17.1% in the OSA vs. non-OSA group (p < 0.001). Patients with OSA had higher odds of 30-day readmission (OR = 1.08, 95% CI 1.06-1.11) and higher odds of developing post-operative atrial fibrillation (OR = 1.04, 95% CI 1.01-1.08) compared to non-OSA patients. The most common reason for readmission was atrial fibrillation (38.6%), with OSA patients presenting with atrial fibrillation more frequently than their counterparts (41.7% vs. 38.4%, p < 0.001)., Conclusions: Patients with OSA are at increased risk of 30-day readmission and post-operative atrial fibrillation following cardiac surgery compared to those without OSA. Although the importance of OSA is increasingly recognized, it remains a significant risk factor for post-operative readmissions and morbidity. Further research is needed to optimize perioperative management of patients with OSA, but these results highlight the importance of this disease on patient outcomes and healthcare costs., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)