Association between preoperative haemoglobin concentration and cardiopulmonary exercise variables: a multicentre study

Otto, James, O'Doherty, Alasdair, Hennis, Philip, Cooper, Jackie, Grocott, Michael, Snowdon, Chris, Carlisle, John, Swart, Michael, Richards, Toby and Montgomery, Hugh (2013) Association between preoperative haemoglobin concentration and cardiopulmonary exercise variables: a multicentre study. Perioperative Medicine, 2 (1). p. 18. ISSN 2047-0525

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Abstract

Background - Preoperative anaemia and low exertional oxygen uptake are both associated with greater postoperative morbidity and mortality. This study reports the association among haemoglobin concentration ([Hb]), peak oxygen uptake (V˙O2 peak) and anaerobic threshold (AT) in elective surgical patients.

Methods - Between 1999 and 2011, preoperative [Hb] and cardiopulmonary exercise tests were recorded in 1,777 preoperative patients in four hospitals. The associations between [Hb], V˙O2 peak and AT were analysed by linear regression and covariance.

Results - In 436 (24.5%) patients, [Hb] was <12 g dl-1 and, in 83 of these, <10 g dl-1. Both AT and V˙O2 peak rose modestly with increasing [Hb] (r2 = 0.24, P <0.0001 and r2 = 0.30, P <0.0001, respectively). After covariate adjustment, an increase in [Hb] of one standard deviation was associated with a 6.7 to 9.7% increase in V˙O2 peak, and a rise of 4.4 to 6.0% in AT. Haemoglobin concentration accounted for 9% and 6% of the variation in V˙O2 peak and AT respectively.

Conclusions - To a modest extent, lower haemoglobin concentrations are independently associated with lower oxygen uptake during preoperative cardiopulmonary exercise testing. It is unknown whether this association is causative.

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