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Abstract
Purpose
Readmission is one of the measures of quality of care and potential costs. This study aimed to determine whether lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) is associated with an increased risk of 30-day readmission in gastric cancer.
Methods
We performed a retrospective study of patients who underwent radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer at our institution between July 2014 and May 2018. Balanced cohorts were created by propensity score matching (PSM) with a 1:1 ratio to generate the elevated LDH (ELDH) group (n = 151) and the low LDH group (Control) (n = 302). To determine the incidence, causes, and risk factors of 30-day readmission, subgroup analyzes were performed and used to develop an efficient prediction model.
Results
A total of 788 patients met the criteria to be included in the study. The cutoff value for serum LDH was 215.5. After PSM, a total of 302 patients were matched in pairs (ELDH group, n = 151, Control group, n = 151). ELDH levels had a higher risk of readmission (p = 0.005, Odds ratio 3.768, 95% confidence interval 1.493–9.510). The pre-match 30-day readmission rate was 7.2 percent, and common causes of post-match readmission included infection-related symptoms, gastrointestinal symptoms, and gastrointestinal bleeding.
Conclusions
Patients with preoperative ELDH levels, postoperative complications, and high preoperative American Society of Anesthesiologists Scores had a higher risk of readmission 30 days after surgery.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Editage (https://www.editage.com) for language editing support. There are no other commercial interests or sources of financial or material support to declare.
Author contributions
Wei-Sheng Chen: analyzed and interpreted the data, drafted and revised the manuscript; Ze-Xin Huang and Hui-Hui Zhang: acquired data; Yi-Qi Cai: carried out the statistical analysis; Xiao-Dong Chen: analyzed and revised the manuscript; Wen-Jing Chen: interpreted the data and revised the manuscript; Yun-Shi Huang and Guan-Bao Zhu: contributed toward the conception of the study, designed the study, analyzed and interpreted the data. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Ethical Standards
The ethics committee of The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University approved this study (approval number: 2014 No. 063) and the need for individual informed consent was waived.