Study Population
This was a retrospective single institutional analysis that included adults (18 years or older) that underwent STS-indexed cardiac operations at a multi-hospital health system between January 2010 and February 2018. Patients were stratified based on whether or not they experienced a GI complication in the initial 30-day postoperative period. GI complications included cholecystitis requiring operative cholecystectomy or percutaneous drainage, GI bleeding requiring transfusion, mesenteric ischemia requiring operative exploration, hepatic failure, prolonged ileus, pancreatitis and/or clostridium difficile infection. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of Pittsburgh.