COVID-19 Increases Risk of Postoperative Morbidity and Mortality

Strategic Insights -

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have made a significant discovery about the relationship between COVID-19 and postoperative outcomes. By analyzing data from over 15,000 patients who underwent major surgery in 2021 and 2022, the study found that patients with COVID-19 were at a significantly higher risk of experiencing postoperative morbidity and mortality compared to those without the virus. The research team used machine learning algorithms to develop a predictive model that can accurately identify patients with COVID-19 who are at increased risk of postoperative complications.

Key Takeaways:

  • The study analyzed data from 10,613 patients with COVID-19 who underwent major surgery in 2022 and 5,269 patients from 2021.
  • Among patients with COVID-19, 17.2% in 2021 and 11.8% in 2022 experienced significantly higher 30-day composite mortality or major morbidity compared to 3.2% of patients without COVID-19 in 2021 and 3.0% in 2022.
  • The predictive model developed by the researchers identified patients with COVID-19 who are at increased risk of postoperative morbidity and mortality.
  • Multiple supervised machine learning models were trained on 153 features from the patient data to develop the predictive model.
  • The study found that patients with COVID-19 who underwent major surgery were at a significantly higher risk of experiencing postoperative complications compared to those without the virus.

Statistics:

  • 10,613 patients with COVID-19 who underwent major surgery in 2022 were analyzed in the study.
  • 5,269 patients with COVID-19 from 2021 were also analyzed in the study.
  • 17.2% of patients with COVID-19 in 2021 experienced significantly higher 30-day composite mortality or major morbidity.
  • 11.8% of patients with COVID-19 in 2022 experienced significantly higher 30-day composite mortality or major morbidity.
  • 3.2% of patients without COVID-19 in 2021 experienced 30-day composite mortality or major morbidity.
  • 3.0% of patients without COVID-19 in 2022 experienced 30-day composite mortality or major morbidity.

Sources:

  • Development and Validation of a Machine Learning Model to Predict Postoperative Morbidity and Mortality in Patients With COVID-19 Who Underwent Major Surgery. Cureus, 2025;17(8).