BACKGROUND: Few studies have reported incidence of or risk factors for morbidity and mortality after elective shoulder arthroscopy.
METHODS: We used Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) billing codes to query the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database and identified 9410 cases of elective shoulder arthroscopy. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify risk factors for complication.
RESULTS: Among 9410 patients, 109 complications occurred in 93 (0.99%). Major morbidity was 0.54% (51 patients), which included 4 patients (0.04%) with a mortality, and minor morbidity was 0.44% (42 patients). The most common complication was a return to the operating room (29 cases, 0.31%). Superficial surgical site infections occurred in 15 cases (0.16%), deep infections in 1 (0.01%), deep venous thrombosis or thrombophlebitis in 8 (0.09%), peripheral nerve injury in 1 (0.01%), and pulmonary embolism in 6 (0.06%). The multivariate analysis showed smoking history (odds ratio [OR], 1.91; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.12-3.27), history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (OR, 3.25; 94% CI, 1.38-7.66), operative time of longer than 1.5 hours (OR, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.32-3.36), and American Society of Anesthesia class of 3 or 4 compared with 1 or 2 (OR, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.03-3.21) as risk factors for complication.
CONCLUSIONS: Morbidity and mortality are rare events after elective shoulder arthroscopy, and the procedure should generally be considered safe. Surgeons should offer smoking cessation to active users of tobacco and should be efficient with operative time whenever possible.
METHODS: Level II, prospective cohort design, treatment study.

OBJECTIVE: The purposes of this study were to determine the incidence of blood transfusion after revision shoulder arthroplasty and to assess risk factors associated with an increased risk of transfusion.
METHODS: Between 1994 and 2008, 566 consecutive revision shoulder procedures were performed at our institution, which formed the basis of this study. The patient\'s age, sex, body mass index, comorbidities, preoperative and postoperative hemoglobin level, details of the surgery, operative time, and transfusion details were documented retrospectively from medical records.
RESULTS: Overall, 11.3% of patients (64 of 566) required a transfusion. An increased transfusion rate was associated with age (odds ratio [OR] per 10 years, 1.5 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.2 to 2.0]; P = .002), operative time (≤ 5 hours vs >5 hours) (OR, 3.3 [95% CI, 1.9 to 5.8]; P < .001), diabetes (OR, 2.3 [95% CI, 1.2 to 4.4]; P = .01), and cardiac disease (OR, 2.7 [95% CI, 1.5 to 5.0]; P < .001). There were significant associations between preoperative hemoglobin level (OR, 0.4 per 1 point [95% CI, 0.3 to 0.5]; P < .001) and a decreased odds of transfusion. The type of surgery (surgery on humeral component) also had an impact on the need for transfusion (P < .001).
CONCLUSIONS: Older age, low preoperative hemoglobin level, increased operative time, diabetes, presence of cardiac disease, and type of revision surgery are associated with higher postoperative transfusion rates. These factors should be taken into consideration to more accurately predict the need for transfusion and modify preoperative blood-ordering protocols.