Extent of Surgery Does Not Influence 30-Day Mortality in Surgery for Metastatic Bone Disease: An Observational Study of a Historical Cohort

Estimating patient survival has hitherto been the main focus when treating metastatic bone disease (MBD) in the appendicular skeleton. This has been done in an attempt to allocate the patient to a surgical procedure that outlives them. No questions have been addressed as to whether the extent of the surgery and thus the surgical trauma reduces survival in this patient group. We wanted to evaluate if perioperative parameters such as blood loss, extent of bone resection, and duration of surgery were risk factors for 30-day mortality in patients having surgery due to MBD in the appendicular skeleton. We retrospectively identified 270 consecutive patients who underwent joint replacement surgery or intercalary spacing for skeletal metastases in the appendicular skeleton from January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2013. We collected intraoperative (duration of surgery, extent of bone resection, and blood loss), demographic (age, gender, American Society of Anesthesiologist score [ASA score], and Karnofsky score), and disease-specific (primary cancer) variables. An association with 30-day mortality was addressed using univariate and multivariable analyses and calculation of odds ratio (OR). All patients were included in the analysis. ASA score 3 + 4 (OR 4.16 [95% confidence interval, CI, 1.80–10.85], P = 0.002) and Karnofsky performance status below 70 (OR 7.34 [95% CI 3.16–19.20], P < 0.001) were associated with increased 30-day mortality in univariate analysis. This did not change in multivariable analysis. No parameters describing the extent of the surgical trauma were found to be associated with 30-day mortality. The 30-day mortality in patients undergoing surgery for MBD is highly dependent on the general health status of the patients as measured by the ASA score and the Karnofsky performance status. The extent of surgery, measured as duration of surgery, blood loss, and degree of bone resection were not associated with 30-day mortality.