Hypocapnia Measured by End-Tidal Carbon Dioxide Tension During Anesthesia Is Associated With Increased 30-Day Mortality Rate

The negative effects of hypocapnia are well documented, including a decrease in cerebral blood and cognitive function, an increase in airway resistance and pulmonary cellular dysfunction, vasoconstriction and an increase in myocardial oxygen demand, hypercoagulopathy, and dysrhythmias. However, there has been no study documenting an association between hypocapnia during anesthesia and postoperative mortality. The aim of this 8-month retrospective, observational study was to determine the impact of hypocapnia on inand out-of-hospital mortality in a diverse population of surgical patients within 30 days of surgery. The study’s secondary outcome was hospital length of stay (LOS), with particular attention to the proportion of patients with an LOS of more than 6 days. Complete case report forms of 5317 adult patients who underwent noncardiac surgery with general anesthesia were included in this study. Data collected included operation date, discharge date, and death date if appropriate.