Grant: Project Grant

More than 1.8 million Canadians have same-day surgery every year. Same-day surgery used to be offered only to healthy patients having minor surgery, like cataract surgery. But in recent decades, more complex surgeries are performed as same-day procedures, often on older and sicker patients. In patients who have surgery and stay overnight in the hospital, studies have shown that cardiac complications are frequent and that most patients do not show any symptoms. Without routine blood work and follow-up after surgery, these events would go undetected. This raises the question: do patients who have surgery and are discharged home on the same day also suffer cardiac complications that are not recognized? Currently, clinicians do not have the tools to identify the frequency of cardiac complications or which patients are at higher risk. Routine blood tests done before and after surgery might be able to detect cardiac complications in patients undergoing same-day surgery. We propose to enroll adults from Canadian hospitals who are undergoing same-day surgery and will be monitored at 1 month and 3 months for the occurrence of cardiovascular complications. We aim to identify risk factors for a cardiovascular complication following a same-day surgery, and examine the impact on a patient's long-term health. We will also collect blood samples before and after surgery in a subgroup of patients with cardiovascular risk factors to determine if cardiac blood tests (i.e., NT-proBNP and troponin) can help identify those at higher risk of having a cardiac event and allow for early detection of these events. This study will enable us to develop tools allowing for better selection of patients eligible for a same-day surgery and improve management and surveillance of these patients in the future.