National Outcomes of Cardiac Surgery in Patients with History of Bariatric Surgery

Abstract Background The metabolic benefits of bariatric surgery are well established. However, its effects on cardiovascular surgery morbidity and mortality are not well understood. Methods Between 2016 and 2021, the Nationwide Inpatient Sample included 343,975 discharges from bariatric surgery eligible candidates who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting, valve, aortic, or combination surgery. Among these were 11,035 (3.2%) patients with a diagnostic code for bariatric surgery. Balancing-score matching was used to mitigate confounding factors between patients who underwent bariatric surgery compared to their eligible counterparts who qualified for bariatric surgery but did not receive it. Obesity class subgroup analyses were also conducted following the same approach. Results Among balancing-score–matched pairs, patients with bariatric surgery had lower hospital mortality (0.9% vs. 1.7% P =.03), fewe