Racial variations in postoperative outcomes of carotid endarterectomy: evidence from the Veterans Affairs National Surgical Quality Improvement Program.

CONTEXT

Black patients and Hispanic patients receive carotid endarterectomy (CEA) at lower rates than white patients. It is unclear whether worse surgical outcomes are influencing clinical decision-making regarding use of the operation among minority group patients.

OBJECTIVE

To determine if there are racial differences in postoperative outcomes for patients undergoing CEA at Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers.

DESIGN

Secondary analysis of data from an ongoing, prospective study on surgical quality and outcomes in the VA health care system.

SETTING

One hundred thirty-two VA Medical Centers that were part of the VA National Surgical Quality Improvement Program.

PATIENTS

A cohort of 6551 men (91.4% white, 5.3% black, and 3.3% Hispanic) who had CEA performed between October 1, 1994 and September 30, 1997.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Primary outcomes were stroke or death and stroke, myocardial infarction (MI), or death within 30 days of the operation.

RESULTS

Thirty-day postoperative rates of stroke or death and of stroke, MI, or death were generally low for all racial/ethnic groups, ranging between 2.6% and 6.5%. Within clinical states that define indications for CEA, rates were also low (1.6% to 3.2%) among asymptomatic patients across racial/ethnic groups. However, among patients with transient ischemic attack (TIA), Hispanic patients had significantly worse outcomes than white patients with a postoperative rate of stroke or death of 10.5% (P < 0.05) and stroke, MI, or death of 13.2% (P < 0.05) compared with 3.1% to 3.5% for white patients. Hispanic patients did not differ from black patients for stroke, death/stroke, death, or MI.

CONCLUSION

Rates of major postoperative complications after CEA are low within the VA and similar across racial/ethnic groups with the possible exception of Hispanic men with TIA. Further investigation of this elevated complication rate among Hispanic men with TIA may be warranted.