Perioperative medicine & outcomes
Postoperative oxygen saturation and surgical-site infection after major non-cardiac surgery: A retrospective analysis
Main finding · Primary composite outcome vs AUC SpO2 < 90 %Result — go to the resultAverage relative effect OR 1.00 95 % CI 0.99–1.01Authors' conclusion
Postoperative hypoxemia was not significantly associated with a composite of surgical site infections and in-hospital mortality.
Study context
- Population
- Adult inpatients after major noncardiac surgery with continuous postoperative oximetry for 48 h or until discharge
- Participants
- 1,355 inpatients
- Exposure
- Postoperative hypoxemia as a continuous exposure
- Outcome
- Composite of:
- 30-day superficial
- Deep or organ-space surgical site infections
- Sepsis
- Pneumonia
- In-hospital mortality
- Follow-up
- 30 days
Main finding
Primary composite outcome vs AUC SpO2 < 90 %
Average relative effect OR
1.00
95 % CI 0.99–1.01
P = 0.61
AUC SpO2 < 90 % (per 30 min*% increase)
average relative effect OR 1.00 (95 % CI 0.99–1.01); P = 0.61
Per 30 min*% increase, as printed
As reported in the abstract
- Patients with at least one component of the primary composite
- 85 (6.3 %)
- AUC <90 % in patients with at least one component, min*%
- 253 [40, 617]
- AUC <90 % in patients without a component, min*%
- 69 [3, 402]
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Individual composite components
- No significant saturation-related differences in any of the composite components
Sensitivity analyses
- Similar results
Postoperative oximetry exposure
- Median continuous postoperative monitoring time, h
- 42
- Overall AUC SpO2 < 90 %, min*%
- 75 [4, 417]
- Median time with saturation below 90 %, min
- 38 [2.4, 187]
Original publication
Postoperative oxygen saturation and surgical-site infection after major non-cardiac surgery: A retrospective analysis. J Clin Anesth. Published 7 August 2025. doi:10.
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