Postoperative complications in patients with obstructive sleep apnea: A meta-analysis

Study Objective: To determine whether a diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) imparts an increased risk of postoperative respiratory failure, cardiac events, and intensive care unit (ICU) transfer than patients with no OSA diagnosis. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Setting: Academic Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Measurements: PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, and ISI Web of Knowledge databases were searched through April 2013 for studies that examined the relationship between OSA and postoperative respiratory and cardiac complications among adults. Either fixed or random-effects models were used to calculate the pooled risk estimates. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to examine the robustness of pooled outcomes. Main Results: Seventeen studies with a total of 7,162 patients were included. Overall, OSA was associated with significant increase in risk of respiratory failure [odds ratio (OR) 2.42; 95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.53 - 3.84; P = 0.0002] and cardiac events postoperatively (OR = 1.63; 95% CI 1.16 - 2.29; P = 0.005). Heterogeneity was low for these outcomes (I² = 5% and 0%, respectively). ICU transfer occurred also more frequently in patients with OSA (OR 2.46; 95% CI 1.29 - 4.68; P = 0.006). These results did not materially change in the sensitivity analyses according to various inclusion criteria. Conclusions: Surgical patients with OSA are at increased risk of postoperative respiratory failure, cardiac events, and ICU transfer.