Prophylactic Norepinephrine Infusion Reduces Postoperative Complications and Hospitalization Time in Elderly Patients Undergoing Posterior Lumbar Spinal Fusion

Table 5

In-hospital complications in 120 patients after lumbar fusion surgery.

Category	Complication	Control group (); (%)	Norepinephrine group (); (%)	RR	95% CI	value
Cardiac		26 (43.3)	14 (23.3)	1.857	1.080–3.194	0.033
	Acute myocardial infarction (all NSTEMI)	3	1
	Arrhythmia	2	2
	Congestive heart failure	3	1
	Transient BNP increase	18	10
Thromboembolic	Pulmonary embolism	3 (5)	1 (1.7)	3	0.321–28.031	0.619
Neurological		8 (13.3)	4 (6.7)	2	0.636–6.289	0.362
	Peripheral neuropathy	2	1
	Delirium/agitation	6	3
Infectious		9 (15)	6 (10)	1.5	0.569–3.953	0.582
	Urinary tract infection	2	2
	Wound infection	4	2
	Urosepsis	0	0
	Pyelonephritis	3	2
Genitourinary		3 (5)	1 (1.7)	3	0.321–28.031	0.619
	Renal failure	1	0
	Transient increase of creatinine	2	1
Pulmonary		17 (28.3)	9 (15)	1.889	0.915–3.898	0.12
	Pneumonia	5	2
	Pulmonary atelectasis	6	4
	Respiratory failure	6	3
Blood loss	Anemia requiring postoperative transfusion	12 (20)	10 (16.7)	1.2	0.562–2.564	0.814
Complications		78	45
Patients with complications		24 (40)	11 (18.3)	2.182	1.177–4.045	0.015
Patients with more than one complication		16 (26.7)	7 (11.7)	2.286	1.014–5.153	0.062

NSTEMI: non-ST elevation myocardial infarction; BNP: brain natriuretic peptide.