GI complications following cardiac surgery in children
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Gastrointestinal complications associated with the surgical treatment of children with heart disease
IRAS ID
142466
Contact name
Lee Ferguson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 5 months, 1 days
Research summary
Six out of every 1,000 babies have some form of significant congenital heart disease and many will require cardiac surgery during infancy or childhood. The gastrointestinal system (gut) is prone to complications after heart surgery due to the interactions with the heart and circulation. Complications include inflammation of the gut, bleeding, perforation of the gut and pancreatitis. In adults, abdominal complications are associated with substantially increased risk of death. To our knowledge, the overall incidence and risk factors for gastrointestinal complications after paediatric cardiac surgery has not been reported and the impact on hospital stay has not been defined.
This study aims to determine the incidence of post-operative gastrointestinal complications following cardiac surgery in children aged <16 years. In addition, we seek to determine the factors associated with gastrointestinal complications and whether such complications impact on survival and post-operative hospital length of stay.
The study is a retrospective observational study. Data submitted to the National Congenital Heart Disease registry will be used to identify all patients aged <16y undergoing cardiac surgery at Freeman Hospital between 2009 and 2014. This data will be linked to the Freeman Hospital’s paediatric intensive care unit database using medical record number and the following data recorded for each cardiac surgery operation: demographics, operative procedure, and post-operative factors (length of stay, length of ventilation, use of dialysis, gastrointestinal complications). Medical records of patients undergoing cardiac surgery and not admitted to intensive care will be reviewed. Patients with pre-existing gastrointestinal disease will be excluded.
The primary outcome measure is occurrence of a gastrointestinal complication within 30 days after cardiac surgery. We will use the study data to measure the rate of gastrointestinal complication and to identify risk factors for their occurrence after cardiac surgery.
REC name
East Midlands - Derby Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/EM/0503
Date of REC Opinion
5 Nov 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion