Effects of Postoperative Residual Paralysis on Hospital Costs

Effects of Postoperative Residual Paralysis on Costs of Hospital Care, Length of Hospitalization and Intensive Care Unit Admission Rate

This is a secondary analysis of a previously performed prospective, observer-blinded, observational study at Massachusetts General Hospital. The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of residual paralysis at admission to the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) on total costs of hospital care.

Secondary analyses will be conducted to evaluate the effects of postoperative residual paralysis on potential cost-influencing factors, i.e. incidence of minor and major postoperative respiratory complications, hospital length of stay (LOS), unplanned intensive care unit (ICU) admission rate, as well as length of stay in the PACU.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Each subject has been given non-depolarizing neuromuscular blocking agents as part of general anesthesia.
• Each subject must be at least 18 years of age
• Train-of-four monitoring in the post-anesthesia care unit

Exclusion Criteria:

• The subject is scheduled to be transferred to an intensive care unit after surgery.
• Children and pregnant women