2.4 Outcomes
The following patient characteristics were examined: age, sex, height, weight, chromosomal abnormality, risk adjustment in congenital heart surgery8, pediatric Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score9 within 24 hours after surgery, age at diagnosis, duration from diagnosis to surgery, indication for surgery, mechanical ventilation management until the date of surgery, and disease background, which included presence of comorbid cardiac disease and total length of tracheal stenosis.
Surgery-related factors such as duration of the operation and CPB, presence of simultaneous cardiopulmonary and tracheal surgery, tracheal bifurcation plasty, administration of postoperative muscle relaxants, and timing of postoperative enteral feeding initiation were examined. The duration of CPB was influenced by the total intraoperative duration, including extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), because surgery for tracheal stenosis alone can be performed under ECMO. Outcomes including anastomotic leakage, 28-day ventilator-free days (VFD), tracheostomy, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) events that occurred from the postoperative period to the first discharge, and mortality were evaluated. Anastomotic leakage was defined as tracheal leakage that required an additional surgical procedure at the anastomosis site.