A national analysis of outcomes associated with laryngeal complications among older adults undergoing cardiac surgery.

Introduction: Laryngeal complications (LC) or dysphagia are often underdiagnosed among those undergoing cardiac surgery. With conflicting reports on the relevance of LC, we characterized the prevalence, risk factors, and outcomes of this complication in a national cohort of older adults receiving cardiac surgery across the U.S. Methods: Adults (≥65 years) receiving coronary, valvular and proximal aortic operations were tabulated from the 2016-2022 Nationwide Readmissions Database. Patients were stratified by the concomitant diagnosis of LC. Mixed regression models were developed to identify the association of LC with outcomes of interest. Results: Among 1,092,639 patients, 1.6% comprised LC. Compared to others, LC patients were older (74 Interquartile Range [IQR]: [70-79] vs 72 years [68-77], Conclusions: LC appears to be associated with increased mortality, postoperative complications, and 30-day readmissions. Furthermore, LC is linked with an incremental increase in length of stay and hospitalization expenditures. While causality could not be established, our findings suggest the relevance of early detection and potential interventions to mitigate sequelae of LC in older patients.