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Predictors of complication after adrenalectomy
Victor Srougi 1, João A. B. Barbosa 1, Isaac Massaud 1, Isadora P. Cavalcante 2, Fabio Y. Tanno 1, Madson Q. Almeida 2, Miguel Srougi 1, Maria C. Fragoso 2, José L. Chambô 1
1 Divisão de Urologia da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil;
2 Divisão de Endocrinologia da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil
ABSTRACT
Purpose: To investigate risk factors for complications in patients undergoing adrenal- ectomy.
Materials and Methods: A retrospective search of our institutional database was per- formed of patients who underwent adrenalectomy, between 2014 and 2018. Clinical parameters and adrenal disorder characteristics were assessed and correlated to intra and post-operative course. Complications were analyzed within 30-days after surgery. A logistic regression was performed in order to identify independent predictors of morbidity in patients after adrenalectomy.
Results: The files of 154 patients were reviewed. Median age and Body Mass Index (BMI) were 52-years and 27.8kg/m2, respectively. Mean tumor size was 4.9+4cm. Me- dian surgery duration and estimated blood loss were 140min and 50mL, respectively. There were six conversions to open surgery. Minor and major post-operative com- plications occurred in 17.5% and 8.4% of the patients. Intra-operative complications occurred in 26.6% of the patients. Four patients died. Mean hospitalization duration was 4-days (Interquartile Range: 3-8). Patients age (p=0.004), comorbidities (p=0.003) and pathological diagnosis (p=0.003) were independent predictors of post-operative complications. Tumor size (p<0.001) and BMI (p=0.009) were independent predictors of intra-operative complications. Pathological diagnosis (p<0.001) and Charlson score (p=0.013) were independent predictors of death.
Conclusion: Diligent care is needed with older patients, with multiple comorbidities and harboring unfavorable adrenal disorders (adrenocortical carcinoma and pheo- cromocytoma), who have greater risk of post-operative complications. Patients with elevated BMI and larger tumors have higher risk of intra, but not of post-operative complications.
ARTICLE INFO
İD Victor Srougi
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8346-3833
Keywords:
Adrenalectomy; Morbidity; Pathology
Int Braz J Urol. 2019; 45: 514-22
Submitted for publication: July 17, 2018
Accepted after revision: January 13, 2019
Published as Ahead of Print: Mach 20, 2019
INTRODUCTION
Adrenal disorders are found in 5% of the population and this rate increases with age (1). Al- though the majority of the patients will not need surgical intervention, adrenal glands can harbor a variety of pathologies that may originate life thre- ating clinical conditions. Probably due to advan-
ces in diagnostic exams, the number of adrena- lectomies performed in the last decades increased approximately 65% (2). Furthermore, the demysti- fication of adrenal surgery may have contributed to augment this number. Of noteworthy, four de- cades ago, morbidity and mortality after adrena- lectomy were as high as 30% and 4%, respectively (3). Lately, contemporary series reports compli-
cation rates varying from 6-18% and mortality <1% (2, 4, 5). Despite an important reduction in morbidity, the rate of complications is still high. Adrenal disorders are heterogeneous and thus convalescence should be expected to be uneven. Identifying clusters of patients at higher risk of complications would be valuable for peri-ope- rative preparation and enhancement of surgical strategy. Our objective is to find predictors of surgical and clinical complications after adrena- lectomy for the treatment of different etiologies.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A retrospective review of our prospecti- ve collected database was performed searching for patients who underwent total or partial adrenalectomy, between July of 2014 and Janu- ary of 2018. Inclusion criteria comprised adult patients, bearing any primary adrenal tumor etiology, paraganglioma or secondary Cushing’s syndrome (pituitary or ectopic neuroendocrine tumor), who underwent open or trans-perito- neal laparoscopic access. Patients indicated to adrenalectomy that were intra or post-operati- vely diagnosed with tumors of other organs or patients with incomplete data were excluded. Data collection included a thorough recording of comorbidities and classification according to the Charslon index (6). All procedures were per- formed by the same experienced surgeon, who performs >40 cases yearly for at least 10 years, teaching urology residents.
Indication to adrenalectomy were (1) hor- mone producing tumors and (2) tumors >4cm. Hor- monal investigation was done by discrimination of the endocrinologist and all patients underwent ab- dominal computed tomography or magnetic reso- nance imaging. Patients were prepared to surgery following our institution guidelines and accor- ding to their adrenal disorder (Table-1). Open access was chosen for all tumors >8cm and most tumors >6cm. Patients with unilateral adrenal tumors were indicated to total ipsilateral adre- nalectomy. Patients harboring synchronic bila- teral adrenal tumors or with refractory Cushing’s disease underwent bilateral adrenalectomy; total or partial resection of the gland was chosen de- pending on the pathology. Laparoscopic total or partial adrenalectomy were performed as descri- bed elsewhere (7).
Demographic data, comorbidities, clinical presentation, tumor etiology and size were asses- sed. Outcome measures were surgery duration, in- tra-operative complications, intra-operative blood loss, intra-operative hemodynamic instability, conversion to open surgery (in case of laparoscopic adrenalectomy) and 30-day post-operative compli- cations. Complications were categorized according to the Clavien-Dindo classification (8). Intra-ope- rative complications were classified according to the system proposed by Satava (9). Hemodynamic instability was considered when any vasoactive drug was needed to regulate blood pressure.
Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS Statistics 22.0 (IBM, Armonk NY). Univaria-
| Adrenal disease | Preparation |
|---|---|
| Hiperaldosteronism | Oral Spironolactone when K <3.5 and BP >140x90 mmHg |
| Pheocromocytoma | Oral Prazosin until mean BP is between 65-90 mmHg Oral beta-blocker if heart rate >100 1000mL of saline 2h before surgery |
| ACC | Sub-cutaneous Enoxaparin until 12h before surgery Meningococcal, Pneumococcal and Haemophilus influenzae vaccination if splenectomy needed |
| Cortisol producing adenoma, Cushing's disease and PMAH | Sub-cutaneous Enoxaparin until 12h before surgery, 100 mg of intra-venous Hydrocortisone in anesthetic induction. |
BP = blood pressure; PMAH = primary macronodular adrenal hyperplasia; ACC = adrenocortical carcinoma.
te analysis was performed to evaluate the asso- ciation between independent variables with sur- gical and postoperative outcomes. Pathological diagnosis was categorized as adrenocortical car- cinoma (ACC), pheocromocytoma and others, in order to perform the assessment. Categorical va- riables were analyzed using chi-square and ANO- VA tests. Continuous variables were analyzed using Student’s t-test and Mann-Whitney U test. Kruskal-Wallis test was performed in cases of multiples categories. Analysis of association be- tween two continuous variables was performed with Pearson’s bivariate correlation. Variables significantly associated with each outcome on univariate analysis were included in a model of multivariate analysis. For categorical outcomes, a Binomial Logistic Regression was performed; for continuous variables, a Multivariate Linear Regression was performed. Results were consi- dered statistically significant at p<0.05; a two- -tailed test was used whenever applicable.
RESULTS
In the study period 162 patients were indicated to adrenalectomy at our institution, of whom 154 patients met the inclusion crite- ria and were analyzed (8 patients excluded due to final pathological diagnosis of retroperito- neal sarcoma, renal cell carcinoma and hepa- tic carcinoma). Incidentalomas represented 20% of diagnoses. Twenty-five patients with large adrenal masses had clinical suspicion of ACC; eleven had pathological confirmation (Table-2). Hyperaldosteronism (25%) and pheocromocyto- ma (21%) were the most prevalent adrenal di- sorders. The frequencies of other pathologies are discriminated in Tables 3 and 4.
Unilateral adrenalectomy was performed in 126 patients. Bilateral total adrenalectomy was done in 6 patients with Cushing’s disea- se and 1 patient with fungal infection (agent: Paracoccidioides brasiliensis). Bilateral total / partial adrenalectomy was performed in 14 patients with primary macronodular adrenal hyperplasia (PMAH), 4 patients with pheocro- mocytoma and 3 patients with Cushing’s dise- ase. Conversion from laparoscopic to open sur-
| Final Pathology | N (%) |
|---|---|
| ACC | 11 (44%) |
| Adenoma | 7 (28%) |
| Mielolipoma | 2 (8%) |
| Hemangioma | 2 (8%) |
| Ganglioneuroma | 1 (4%) |
| Schwanoma | 1 (4%) |
| Paracoccidioides brasiliensis infecction | 1 (4%) |
ACC = adrenocortical carcinoma
gery occurred in 6 cases: 3 due to hemodynamic instability aiming to abbreviate the surgery, 2 to control bleeding and 1 due to technical di- fficulties. Major complications occurred in 13 patients listed in Table-5. Four patients died, of whom 2 had metastatic ACC (Table-6). Results discriminated by open or laparoscopic surgery are available on Table-7.
Univariate analysis didn’t reveal asso- ciation of patient sex, use of anti-coagulant drug, blood hypertension and clinical presen- tation with any of the outcome measures. On multivariate analysis, we found that pathologi- cal diagnosis was an independent predictor of post-operative complications (p=0.003), while pathological diagnosis (p=0.003) and patient age (p=0.004) were independent predictors of major post-operative complications. Tumor size (p<0.001) and BMI (p=0.009) were independent predictors of intra-operative complications. Pathological diagnosis (p<0.001) and Charlson score (p=0.013) were independent predictors of death. Tumor size was an independent predictor of blood-loss (p<0.001). Tumor size (p<0.001) and open adrenalectomy (p=0.005) were inde- pendent predictors of surgical time and hospita- lization time, respectively. Conversion to open surgery and reoperation were not associated with any of the assessed parameters.
| Parameters | Mean ± SD | Median (IQR) |
|---|---|---|
| Age (years) | 50.8±14.9 | 52 (40-62) |
| Sex, males | 52 (33.8%) | |
| Side | ||
| Right (%) | 64 (41.5%) | |
| Left (%) | 62 (40.3%) | |
| Bilateral (%) | 28 (18.2%) | |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 29.2±6.7 | 27.8 (25-33) |
| Charlson Score | ||
| 0 | 48 (31.2%) | |
| 1-5 | 89 (57.8%) | |
| 5-10 | 15 (9.7%) | |
| >10 | 2 (1.3%) | |
| Clinical presentation | ||
| Incidental | 31 (20.1%) | |
| Blood hypertension | 68 (44.2%) | |
| Cushing syndrome | 29 (18.8%) | |
| Hypertensive crisis | 17 (11%) | |
| Pain | 13 (8.4%) | |
| Palpable mass | 8 (5.2% | |
| Virilization | 5 (3.2%) | |
| Pre-operative diagnosis | ||
| Aldosterone producing | 39 (25.3%) | |
| adenoma | ||
| Pheocromocytoma | 33 (21.4%) | |
| PMAH | 16 (10.5%) | |
| Cortisol producing adenoma | 15 (9.7%) | |
| Cushing's disease | 15 (9.7%) | |
| ACC | 25 (16.2%) | |
| Paraganglioma | 4 (2.6%) | |
| Myelolipoma | 2 (1.3%) | |
| Metastasis | 2 (1.3%) | |
| Cyst | 2 (1.3%) | |
| Ganglioneuroma | 1 (0.7%) | |
| Tumor size, (cm) | 4.9+4 | 3.4 (2-6.5) |
BMI = body mass index; PMAH = primary macronodular adrenal hyperplasia, ACC = adrenocortical carcinoma.
| Parameters | Mean + SD | Median (IQR) |
|---|---|---|
| Final pathology | ||
| Adenoma | 59 (38.3%) | |
| Pheocromocytoma | 36 (23.4%) | |
| PMAH | 18 (11.7%) | |
| ACC | 11 (7.1%) | |
| Other | 30 (19.5%) | |
| Adrenalectomy access | ||
| Laparoscopic | 123 (79.9%) | |
| Open | 25 (16.2%) | |
| Converted | 6 (4.9%) | |
| Surgery approach | ||
| Unilateral total | 126 | |
| Bilateral total | 7 | |
| Bilateral partial / total | 21 | |
| Surgery duration (min) | 154+59 | 140 (120-180) |
| Estimated blood loss (mL) | 139±224 | 50 (50-100) |
| Blood transfusion | 7 (4.5%) | |
| Intra-operative hemodynamic instability | 29 (18.8%) | |
| Intra-operative complications | 16 (10,4%) | |
| Satava 1 | 15 (9,7%) | |
| Satava 2 | 1 (0,6%) | |
| Satava 3 | 0 | |
| Post-operative complications | 40 (26%) | |
| Clavien 1-2 | 27 (17,5%) | |
| Clavien 3a | 6 (3,9%) | |
| Clavien 3b | 3 (1,9%) | |
| Clavien 4 | 0 | |
| Clavien 5 | 4 (2,6%) | |
| Hospitalization duration (days) | 6,1 ± 5,3 | 4 (3-8) |
BMI = body mass index; PMAH = primary macronodular adrenal hyperplasia; ACC = adrenocortical carcinoma.
| Clavien classification | N |
|---|---|
| 3a (N = 6) | |
| Sepsis (respiratory) | 1 |
| Pulmonary thromboembolism | 1 |
| Cardiac stroke | 2 |
| Cardiac arrhythmia | 2 |
| 3b (N = 3) | |
| Infected retroperitoneal hematoma | 2 |
| Retroperitoneal hematoma with need of hemostasis | 1 |
| 5 (N = 4)+ | |
| Septic complications | 2 |
| Pulmonary thromboembolism | 1 |
| Cardiac arrest | 1 |
+ Exposed with details in table 6.
Historically the surgical treatment of adrenal tumors has been a worrisome topic. Four decades ago patients with Cushing syndrome had a post-operati- ve complication risk of 30% whereas patients with pheocromocytoma had a mortality risk ranging from 30% to 45% (10). The knowledge regarding adrenal diseases evolved and consequently the associated morbidity decreased. Currently, post-operative mor- bidity rate in patients with Cushing syndrome is ap- proximately 6% and mortality rate in patients with pheocromocytoma diminished to 0% to 2.9% (11). Murphy et al. reported a complication rate of 7.2% in nationwide cohort with >40.000 subjects that un- derwent adrenalectomy due to a variety of patholo- gies (2). It should be mentioned that population data- bases have the inherited shortcomings of coding and negligent reporting. Other series refer post-adrenalec- tomy complication rates ranging from 6.4% to 18.4% (4, 5). In the present cohort, despite the rate of major complications was similar to previous series (8.4%), the rate of minor complications was higher (17.5%). The elevated frequency of ACC and pheocromocyto- ma in our cohort might explain this finding.
| # | Final pathology | Age (years) | Charlson score | Surgical access | Tumor size (cm) | Cause of death |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ACC | 86 | 6 | Open | 8.4 | Septic shock due to pneumonie |
| 2 | ACC M+ | 42 | 8 | Open | 11.3 | Septic shock after evisceration |
| 3 | ACC M+ | 55 | 9 | Open | 17.5 | Cardiac arrest after severe hemodinamic instability |
| 4 | Adenoma | 67 | 4 | Lap | 2.5 | Pulmonary thromboembolism |
ACC = Adrenocortical carcinoma; M+ = Metastatic; Lap = Laparoscopic
DISCUSSION
In this retrospective analysis we investi- gated predictors of post-operative morbidity in patients undergoing adrenalectomy due to va- rious causes. We found that adrenal tumor etio- logy and size, patient age and comorbidities are predictors of post-adrenalectomy complications; open adrenalectomy prolonged hospitalization and higher BMI augmented the risk of intra- -operative complications.
Minimally invasive surgery was pivotal to improve surgical outcomes. It has been demonstrated in a meta-analysis with 98 studies that complications rates after laparoscopic and open adrenalectomy were 10.9% and 25.2%, respectively (12). Bittner et al. cor- roborated this finding reporting a 5-fold greater risk of complications in patients undergoing open adre- nalectomy (13). Of note, patients that undergo open surgery are prone to have larger tumors and to be operated in low-volume centers, what may increase complication occurrence. Excluding these cofoun-
| Laparoscopic | Open | Converted | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cases | 123 (79.9%) | 25 (16.2%) | 6 (4.9%) |
| Bilateral n(%) | 25 (20.3%) | 2 (8%) | 2 (33%) |
| Reintervention n (%) | 3 (2.4%) | 2 (8%) | 1 (16%) |
| Pathologoy | |||
| Pheocromocytoma | 32 | 2 | 2 |
| Adenoma | 56 | 2 | 1 |
| PMAH | 16 | 2 | 0 |
| ACC | 1 | 10 | 0 |
| Other | 18 | 9 | 3 |
| Estimated blood loss (Mean ± SD) | 91.2mL (± 164.8) | 350ml (±374.6) | 366.7mL (±206.6) |
| Surgery duration in minutes (Mean ± SD) | 143.6 (+49.6) | 208 (±80.4) | 183 (±20.7) |
| Blood transfusion | 0 | 6 (24%) | 1 (16%) |
| Clavien Major (>2) | 6 (4.8%) | 6 (24%) | 1 (16%) |
| Hospitalization duration in days (Median, range) | 4 (2-38) | 4 (1-17) | 10.5 (3-17) |
ding factors, we found that open and laparoscopic surgery had similar complication rates. The open ap- proach was exclusively an independent predictor for longer hospitalization. However, it is unquestionable the benefits of minimally invasive surgery regarding cosmetics, convalescence and pain. In the United Stated of America, between 1999 and 2006, 14% of adrenalectomies were performed laparoscopically (5). From 2002 to 2011 it increased to 20% (14). Adrenal surgery follows the trend toward minimally invasive procedures seen in other specialties. In this scenario, laparoscopic adrenalectomy should be preferred, with exceptions for suspected malignancy and large tu- mors (2, 15).
In accordance to our findings it has been sho- wn that age and comorbidities have major influence in post-operative recovery (2, 11, 16, 17). Contem- porary guidelines recommend a series of measures able to effectively minimize clinical complications, particularly in cases of Cushing syndrome, pheochro- mocytoma and ACC (18). Generally, patients with in-
dication for adrenalectomy will be more prejudicated by their adrenal disease than by the potential harms of operation and thus, we cannot afford to spare most individuals from surgery. Diligent thromboembolism prophylaxis, pulmonary rehabilitation and preclu- sion of bowel preparation are advocated, especially in elderly, in whom the physiologic response to sur- gical stress is impaired (11).
Patients with ACC represent the greatest challenge in treatment management. Aside from ACC aggressiveness (median overall survival of 1.7 years), the risk of complication and mortality after adrena- lectomy are 42% and 2%, respectively (19, 20). There is paucity of studies comparing the post-operative morbidity between malignant and benign adrenal tu- mors, however it has been shown that larger tumors are associated with higher risk of conversion and complications (13, 21, 22). Furthermore, Marcadis et al. demonstrated in a population database study that 42% of the patients with ACC had Charlson score ≥2 while that number was 17% in patients with benign
adrenal lesions (23). One could expect that the cli- nical fragility associated with adrenal malignancy is determinant of increased morbidity. In accordance, we found that higher Charlson score and patholo- gical diagnosis of ACC were related to greater risk of complications. Moreover, in our cohort 3 patients with malignant disease died. Despite of rigorous peri- -operative control, patients with ACC still have severe post-operative complications.
The experience of the medical team is of pa- ramount importance when treating adrenal tumors. After reviewing outcomes of 3,144 individuals that underwent adrenalectomy, Park et al. revealed that patients operated by low-volume surgeons have 1.5- fold greater risk of complications after adrenalec- tomy when compared to high-volume surgeons (top quartile in number of surgeries/year) (5). It has been suggested that after 30 adrenalectomies the surgeon surpass the learning curve (24). Nonetheless, it see- ms more plausible that frequency is more important than the absolute number of procedures performed. The proposed case-load to achieve satisfactory ra- tes of post-operative complications varies from >3 to >30 per surgeon, yearly (25, 26). Pedziwiatr et al. reported the rate of complications of 500 adrenalec- tomies divided in quartiles, from first to fourth, to be 14%, 11%, 8% and 6%, respectively. Interestingly, the first and second quartiles were operated by learning surgeons, the third quartile by senior surgeons and the fourth quartile by residents. After observing the lowest rate of complications in patients operated by residents, he concluded that the growth of institutio- nal experience was responsible for morbidity decrea- se (27). It has been demonstrated that when properly proctored, residents can perform adrenalectomies wi- thout raising the rates of complications (28).
This study is subject to the drawbacks of its retrospective design and relatively small sample size. We limited the research period aiming to match the last implementations in our department guidelines regarding surgical preparation for adrenalectomy, what restricted the number of patients included. Ho- wever, patients were treated in a quaternary institu- tion where >50 adrenalectomies are performed yearly and despite the participation of residents, procedures were proctored by three senior surgeons with adre- nalectomy caseload >200. To our knowledge, this is the first series to compare complication rates between
malignant and benign adrenal tumors and due to the complexity of the cases referred to our institution, the higher occurrence of complications allowed a conve- nient assessment of morbidity.
CONCLUSIONS
Patients with adrenal tumors are at substan- tial risk of post-operative complications. In cases of hormone-producing or large tumors, most patients cannot be precluded from surgery. Diligent care is ne- eded with patients harboring ACC, pheocromocyto- ma and large adrenal masses, who have greater risk of post-operative complications. Older age and pre- sence of multiple comorbidities are also associated with the occurrence of post-operative complications. Open surgery was not predictor of increased morbi- dity, nonetheless prolonged hospital-stay. Patients with elevated BMI have higher risk of intra, but not of post-operative complications. In summary, identi- fying factors that influence morbidity after adrena- lectomy is crucial to maximize outcomes. Our results provide knowledge to optimize surgical preparation.
ABBREVIATIONS
ACC = Adrenocortical carcinoma
BMI = Body Mass Index
IQR = Interquartile Range
PMAH = Primary macronodular adrenal hyperplasia
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
None declared.
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Correspondence address:
Victor Srougi, MD Divisão de Urologia, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo Av Eneas de Carvalho Aguiar, 255 São Paulo, SP, 05403-000, Brasil Telephone: +55 11 2661-8080 E-mail: vsrougi@gmail.com